Earth from Space - Image Description

STS087-720-062 Yamzho and Puma Lakes, China November 1997
Located on the southern Tibetan Plateau, two fairly large salt lakes are visible in this northeast-looking view. Near the center of the image is the almost rectangular-looking Puma Lake. Puma Lake is 20 miles (32 km) long, and is 8 miles (13 km) wide. Streams from the snow-capped surrounding mountains feed the lake, but the lake has no outlet. Some sediment can be seen entering the lake at its western end. In the upper left portion of the image is Yamzho Lake, which is over 45 miles (72 km) long. The lake is surrounded by many snow-capped mountains and is fed by numerous small streams. The lake does have an outlet stream at its far western end (not visible on the image). Yamzho Lake has a power station that was completed and dedicated in 1996 near the small village of Pai-Ti at the lake's western end. This power station is the largest in Tibet.

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