Earth from Space - Image Description

STS074-735-007 Kopet Mountains, Turkmenistan November 1995
Most of arid, western Turkmenistan is visible in this southwest-looking panoramic view that includes the southern end of the Caspian Sea (large light blue feature near horizon). A sizeable dust storm (lighter-colored, uniform-looking) is in progress, blowing dust towards the southwest in the bottom third of the image. The darker features are mountain ranges. The linear, northwest-southeast aligned Kopet Mountains extend diagonally across the scene along a fault zone that is located along the northeast-facing base of the mountains. Several snow-capped peaks and ridgelines of the mountains in northern Iran, including the Elburz Mountains (along the southern edge of the Caspian Sea) are discernible towards the left horizon.

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