Images & Animations
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Credit
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC
The dark green waters of the Aral Sea continue to pale as the Sea shrinks and grows shallower. Sediment colors the water a milky green in the shallowest sections of the Sea. A ring of white salt flats trace out the Sea’s former shorelines in this Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image acquired on April 10, 2004, by the Terra satellite.
A combination of factors have contributed to the Sea’s steady decline. First, it is surrounded by arid desert, so water evaporates quickly from its surface. Also, much of the water that once fed the Sea has been diverted for agricultural purposes. Here, dark brown agricultural fields follow the line of the Darya River on the southern edge of the Aral Sea.
Three countries are shown in this image. On top and down the left edge is Kazakhstan. Uzbekistan forms the center of the image, and Turkmenistan is along the bottom. A few scattered fires are represented as red dots in this image.
Metadata
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Sensor
Terra/MODIS -
Visualization Date
2004-04-12
