Earth from Space - Image Description

STS078-733-030 Lake Titicaca, Peru and Bolivia June 1996
Located in the high plateau of the Andes Mountains at roughly 12500 feet (3700 meters) above sea level, between Peru and Bolivia is Lake Titicaca (large dark feature at center). The lake is divided by a north-south boundary that partitions the northwest section of the lake to Peru and the southeast section to Bolivia. Climatically, this section of the Altiplano is classified as semi-desert. Most of the precipitation that falls comes with the summer rains. This moisture, or recharge of freshwater into Lake Titicaca, is supplemented by melting snow and ice from the Andes Mountains. This image graphically shows the impact that the Andes Mountains has on the local climate (cloud covered eastern slopes of the Andes versus cloud free conditions on the Altiplano).

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