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			Photo #: ISS002-E-9147 Date: Jun. 2001 Geographic Region: KAZAKHSTAN Feature: ARAL SEA, DUST STORM



	The Aral Sea has shrunk to less than half its size since 1985. The Aral Sea receives little water sometimes no water) from the two major rivers that empty into it-the Syr Darya and Amu Darya. Instead, the river water is diverted to support irrigation for the region's extensive cotton fields. Recently, water scarcity has increased due to a prolonged drought in Central Asia. As the Aral Sea recedes, its former sea bed is exposed. The Aral's sea bed is composed of fine sediments-including fertilizers and other agricultural chemicals-that are easily picked up by the region's strong winds, creating thick dust storms. The International Space Station crew observed and recorded a large dust storm blowing eastward from the Aral Sea in late June 2001. This image illustrates the strong coupling between human activities (water diversions and irrigation), and rapidly changing land, sea and atmospheric processes-the winds blow across the Sea and pick up dust (former sea bottom sediments) as soon as the blowing air masses hit land. Note that the northern boundary of the dust storm occurs along the Syr Darya, where no bottom sediments are exposed.

Images:	All Available Images Low-Resolution 56k
Mission:	ISS002
Roll - Frame:	E - 9147
Geographical Name:	KAZAKHSTAN
Features:	ARAL SEA, DUST STORM
Center Lat x Lon:	45.0N x 60.5E
Film Exposure:		N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP:	10
Camera:	E2
Camera Tilt:	HO	LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length:	35
Nadir to Photo Center Direction:	NW	The direction from the nadir to the center point, N=North, S=South, E=East, W=West
Stereo?:		Y=Yes there is an adjacent picture of the same area, N=No there isn't
Orbit Number:	2917
Date:	20010630	YYYYMMDD
Time:	113214	GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat:	32.0N	Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon:	80.3E	Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth:	282	Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude:	202	nautical miles
Sun Elevation:	26	Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views:
Water Views:	SEA
Atmosphere Views:	DUST
Man Made Views:
City Views:

Photo is not associated with any sequences

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