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  Image: Geographic Location Direction Photo #: ISS009-E-23808 Date: Sep. 2004
Geographic Region: SUDAN
Feature: CORAL REEFS, RED SEA

Ordering information for space photography
 
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  Fringing Coral Reef, Red Sea

The Sudanese coast of the Red Sea is a well-known destination for diving due to clear water and abundance of coral reefs (or shia'ab in Arabic). Reefs are formed primarily from precipitation of calcium carbonate by corals. (In addition to its commonly used meaning, precipitation can also describe how something dissolved in a solution becomes "undissolved" through chemical or biological processes.) Massive reef structures are built over thousands of years of succeeding generations of coral. In the Red Sea, fringing reefs form on shallow shelves of less than 50 meters depth along the coastline. This astronaut photograph illustrates the intricate morphology of the reef system located along the coast between Port Sudan to the northwest and the Tokar River delta to the southeast.

Close to shore, fringing reefs border the coastline. Farther offshore grows a larger, more complicated barrier reef structure. Different parts of the reef structure show up as variable shades of light blue. Deeper water channels (darker blue) define the boundaries for individual reefs within the greater barrier reef system. Such a complex pattern of reefs may translate into greater ecosystem diversity because of the wide variety of local reef environments.

 
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Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 256k
Mission: ISS009  
Roll - Frame: E - 23808
Geographical Name: SUDAN  
Features: CORAL REEFS, RED SEA  
Center Lat x Lon: 18.8N x 37.5E
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 10
 
Camera: E4
 
Camera Tilt: 53   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 800  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: E   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: 1329  
 
Date: 20040920   YYYYMMDD
Time: 115926   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 17.0N  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 33.6E  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 249   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 195   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 52   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views: COAST  
Water Views: DELTA, REEF, RIVER, SEA  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views: PORT  
City Views:  
Photo is not associated with any sequences


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