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  Image: Geographic Location Direction Photo #: STS059-L22-140 Date: Apr. 1994
Geographic Region: UZBEKISTAN
Feature: ARAL SEA, ICE

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  STS059-L22-140 Aral Sea, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan April 1994
Parts of three independent republics (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan), former members of the Soviet Union, are shown in this synoptic, low-oblique, northeast-looking photograph of the Aral Sea. One feature of this springtime photograph is the Amudar'ya River that flows northward into the southern end of the partially ice-covered Aral Sea. The river's multibraided stream channels, ditches, and canals form a maze of interconnected waterways throughout the extensive delta south of the sea. A major concentration of cultivated, irrigated agricultural features (browns and tans) are evident south of the Amudar'ya delta. Cotton is the primary agricultural product on both sides of the Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan border. Because this entire region is classified as a desert, proper water management is a key concern in planning. As in other desert regions of the world, loss of moisture through evaporation produces a dry, nonvegetated environment. This sea, which straddles the Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan border, has lost more than one-half of its water surface since 1960 because streams that previously fed the sea have been diverted for irrigation. Other near-vertical photographs show more detail of the rapidly receding water level of the Aral Sea.

View northeastward across Uzbekastan to the partly-ice-covered Aral Sea and Kazakhstan. The irrigated fan-delta of the Amu Darya extends from the right side of the photograph to end in extensive salt flats at the south end of the sea. The Aral was the fourth-largest inland sea or lake in the world, until diversion and over-use of the river water for irrigation led, in this arid climate, to the sea's decline.
 
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Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 72k
Mission: STS059  
Roll - Frame: L22 - 140
Geographical Name: UZBEKISTAN  
Features: ARAL SEA, ICE  
Center Lat x Lon: 44.0N x 59.0E
Film Exposure: N   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 10
 
Camera: LH
 
Camera Tilt: LO   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 90  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: NE   The direction from the nadir to the center point, N=North, S=South, E=East, W=West
Stereo?: N   Y=Yes there is an adjacent picture of the same area, N=No there isn't
Orbit Number: 48  
 
Date: 19940412   YYYYMMDD
Time: 090846   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 42.1N  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 56.5E  
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: 119   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 55   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views: COAST, ISLAND  
Water Views: LAKE, SEA ICE, RIVER  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views: AGRICULTURE  
City Views:  
Associated Photos in Sequence:

IMAGEPhoto #: STS51F-36-59
Description: ARAL SEA-1985; DECREASING LAKE LEVELS
Sequence ID: 1A

IMAGEPhoto #: STS047-79-83
Description: ARAL SEA-1992; DECREASING LAKE LEVELS
Sequence ID: 1B

IMAGEPhoto #: STS059-L22-140 ** Currently displayed photo **
Description: ARAL SEA-1994; DECREASING LAKE LEVELS
Sequence ID: 1C



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