Earth from Space - Image Description

STS085-710-048 Okanagan Lake, British Columbia, Canada August 1997
The northern half of Lake Okanagan (elongate bluish feature) is in the center of this east-looking oblique image. The checkered landscape east and west of Lake Okanagan (small, light colored angular patches) is a result of extensive timber clear-cutting. The valley is technically classified as a desert, receiving less than 10 inches (25 centimeters) of precipitation per year. The verges of the grassy area in the lower third of the image are sharply linear (hence the lighter, more uniform looking terrain at the bottom of the image). Nicola and Douglas Lakes are two of the smaller lakes near bottom center of the picture. The two thin converging lines (light colored) are power-line right of ways that have been cut through the heavily forested slopes. Part of the Space Shuttle orbiter can be seen in the lower left corner of the image.

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