The Musandam Peninsula is part of Oman, separated from the rest of the
country by the United Arab Emirates. It forms the southern part of the
Strait of Hormuz, with the Persian Gulf to the west, and the Gulf of Oman
to the east. The capital city Khasab has 18,000 inhabitants. Fishing is
the peninsula’s main industry, and transportation is mostly by sea. The
peninsula’s distinctive fjord-like physiography is due to submergence of
the land from the tectonic collision between the Arabian Plate and the
Eurasian Plate.
The image covers an area of 46.6 x 64.8 km, was acquired on March 27,
2004, and is located near 26.2 degrees north latitude, 56.4 degrees east
longitude.
With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared
wavelength region and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters
(about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing
surface of our planet. ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments
launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was
built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint
U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of
the instrument and the data products.
The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER provides
scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface
mapping and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example
applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats; monitoring
potentially active volcanoes; identifying crop stress; determining cloud
morphology and physical properties; wetlands evaluation; thermal pollution
monitoring; coral reef degradation; surface temperature mapping of soils
and geology; and measuring surface heat balance.
The U.S. science team is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, Calif. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Science Mission
Directorate.
More information about ASTER is available at http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/.