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  Image: Geographic Location Direction Photo #: ISS065-E-165726 Date: Jul. 2021
Geographic Region: USA-CALIFORNIA
Feature: LAKE BERRYESSA, MONTICELLO DAM

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While in orbit over the San Francisco Bay Area, an astronaut onboard the International Space Station (ISS) took this photograph of the south end of Lake Berryessa, a large freshwater reservoir in nearby Napa County, California. The canyons surrounding the lake provide areas for water recreation, marinas, and campgrounds. The lake is primarily fed by Putah Creek, with additional contributions from smaller waterways such as Capell Creek and Wragg Creek. The visible swirls in the middle of the lake are sediments stirred up by the flow of the water around the canyon walls.

The artificial lake was created in the 1950s with the construction of Monticello Dam and flooding of Berryessa Valley. The dam stands 304 feet (93 meters) tall and stretches about 1,300 feet (400 meters) across Devil's Gate, a narrow pass on Putah Creek. Lake Berryessa stores and distributes water to surrounding cities and nearby farmlands, including vineyards in Napa Valley.

Water levels in Lake Berryessa and Putah Creek were low at the time of this July 2021 photo, when the entire state of California faced serious drought. The thin, light-colored zone along the shorelines is a "bathtub ring" of dry lakebed where water levels have dropped and vegetation-free sediments stand out.

During an extended drought in the 1980s, Putah Creek dried up downstream of the reservoir. To prevent this from occurring again, dam operators now regularly release water to mimic the previous seasonal ebb and flow in the creek. Lake Berryessa also provides flood protection for parts of Northern California during large rain events in the winter.

 
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Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 573k
Mission: ISS065  
Roll - Frame: E - 165726
Geographical Name: USA-CALIFORNIA  
Features: LAKE BERRYESSA, MONTICELLO DAM  
Center Lat x Lon: 38.5N x 122.2W
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 10
 
Camera: N8
 
Camera Tilt: 10   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 1150  
 
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:  
 
Date: 20210704   YYYYMMDD
Time: 154805   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 38.1N  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 121.7W  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 85   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 223   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 32   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


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