Return to Earth From Space Home
Earth from Space logo Image Information Earth from Space logo

Display a Screen Layout for Printing

IMAGE: gray corner       IMAGE: gray corner
  Image: Geographic Location Direction Photo #: ISS050-E-29783 Date: Dec. 2016
Geographic Region: CHINA
Feature: WIND FARMS, MAJIAMIAO, AGR., GOBI DES., DRAINAGE PATTERNS

Ordering information for space photography
 
IMAGE: gray corner     IMAGE: gray corner

Image: gray corner     Image: gray corner
  View Low-Resolution Image  
  Drainage Patterns and Wind Farms in Northwest China

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station captured this photograph of drainage patterns on the southwestern end of the Gobi Desert in China's Gansu Province. The desert landscape - part of the Hexi (or Gansu) Corridor route along the historical Silk Road - is low in elevation, generally flat, and surrounded by mountains and rolling hills.

The foothills of the Tien Shan mountains lie to the north of this scene. As temperatures warm in the springtime, snow melt from the higher elevations flows down into streams, forming narrow alluvial fans. The water carries sand, silt, and clay that accumulate at the mouths of the streams. These sediments are then available for further transport by larger valley rivers such as the Shule.

The grid pattern superimposed on the basin is part of the Gansu Wind Farm Project. Narrow roads mark the paths between dozens of wind turbines. Currently China is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and the wind farms are part of an effort to reduce carbon emissions and to harness cleaner energy.

Most of the agriculture in this region follows along the Hexi Corridor. Several small towns skirt the Shule River, diverting water for cultivation of wool, tobacco, and a variety of grain and fruit crops.

 
Image: gray corner     Image: gray corner

Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 350k
Mission: ISS050  
Roll - Frame: E - 29783
Geographical Name: CHINA  
Features: WIND FARMS, MAJIAMIAO, AGR., GOBI DES., DRAINAGE PATTERNS  
Center Lat x Lon: 40.7N x 95.3E
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 10
 
Camera: N6
 
Camera Tilt: 10   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 240  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: S   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:  
 
Date: 20161229   YYYYMMDD
Time: 071143   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 41.3N  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 95.4E  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 203   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 216   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 22   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views:  
Water Views:  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views:  
City Views:  
Photo is not associated with any sequences


NASA
Home Page
JSC
Home Page
JSC Digital
Image Collection
Earth Science &
Remote Sensing

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