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  Image: Geographic Location Direction Photo #: ISS017-E-19616 Date: Oct. 2008
Geographic Region: TURKMENISTAN
Feature: AMUDARYA RIVER, HINDU KUSH MTS, DUST STORM

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  View Low-Resolution Image  
  Dust storm, Turkmenistan, Central Asia

This west-looking astronaut photograph, taken with a short focal length lens from the International Space Station, spans a wide swath of central Asia--from Afghanistan, along the length of Turkmenistan, and beyond to the Caspian Sea. Winds blowing down the largest river valley in the region, the Amudarya, were strong enough to raise a large dust storm. Dust appears as a light brown mass extending into the center of the image from the lower right. Diffuse dust from prior windy weather appears over much of the area making a regional haze that hides landscape details. The haze partly obscures the irrigated agriculture in Turkmenistan and entirely obscures the Caspian Sea.

Numerous rivers rise in the Hindu Kush range (lower left). The Band-i Amir River is a major tributary of the main regional river, the Amudarya, which it reaches via a deep canyon. The Amudarya River was the major historical contributor of water to the Aral Sea, but today extensive diversion of river water for agricultural purposes has led to desiccation of the sea bed. The exposed sea bed is a major source of saline dusts contaminated with agricultural chemicals, and it poses a significant environmental and human health hazard to central Asia. To a lesser extent, dusts are also mobilized from sediments along the Amudarya River channel.

The Paropamisus Range and the Amudarya (also known as the Oxus River) are mentioned in histories of Alexander the Great's famous military expedition from Greece to India. His horsemen are described as having made a fast side excursion from near the Caspian Sea (image top right) as far as the Amudarya (image lower right).
 
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Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 209k
Mission: ISS017  
Roll - Frame: E - 19616
Geographical Name: TURKMENISTAN  
Features: AMUDARYA RIVER, HINDU KUSH MTS, DUST STORM  
Center Lat x Lon: 36.0N x 63.4E
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 10
 
Camera: N2
 
Camera Tilt: HO   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 28  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: W   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: 761  
 
Date: 20081016   YYYYMMDD
Time: 105953   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 33.8N  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 72.5E  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 245   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 188   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 18   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views: MOUNTAIN, RANGE, VALLEY  
Water Views: CHANNEL, RIVER, SEA  
Atmosphere Views: DUST, HAZE  
Man Made Views: AGRICULTURE  
City Views:  
Photo is not associated with any sequences


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