Earth from Space - Image Description

STS073-740-025 San Luis Valley, Colorado, U.S.A. October 1995
Part of the San Luis Valley of south-central Colorado is featured in this north-looking, low-oblique photograph. Visible in the valley are circular patterns produced by center-pivot irrigation; snowcapped Blanca Peak [14 345 feet (4372 meters) above sea level], north of which is Great Sand Dunes National Monument; and part of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Apparent are intermittently flowing San Luis Creek that travels south across the valley; dark San Luis Lake; and intermittently flowing water channels of the Rio Grande that merge with San Luis Creek near Alamosa (not discernible in this photograph). West of the Rio Grande is a light saline surface caused by the repetitive deposition and evaporation process in this desertlike landscape.

This service is provided by the International Space Station program and the JSC Earth Science & Remote Sensing Unit, ARES Division, Exploration Integration Science Directorate.