Photo #: STS51F-40-64 Date: Jul. 1985 Geographic Region: TURKMENISTAN Feature: KARA-BOGAZ-GOL BAY |
STS51F-040-0064 Kara-Bogaz Gol, Turkmenistan August 1985 This northwest-looking, low-oblique photograph shows the nearly empty basin of Kara-Bogaz Gol, an arm of the Caspian Sea. The average elevation of the deep blue Caspian Sea is 92 feet (28 meters) below sea level. The average elevation of Kara-Bogaz Gol, which acts as a natural evaporation basin--draining water from the Caspian Sea and depositing salts along the shore of the basin--is 102 feet (31 meters) below sea level. In 1979, the government built a dike across the narrow strip of land that separates the sea and the basin. In the 1980s, the low water levels in the Caspian Sea--caused by the diversion of water upstream on the Volga River (the sea's main source of water) for numerous government projects--allowed only a small amount of water into Kara-Bogaz Gol. The climate of this region is semiarid, but lack of precipitation during some years can cause desert-like conditions, resulting in even lower water levels in the sea. This photograph shows that much of the Kara-Bogaz Gol basin is void of water, except near its western end. |
Images: | All Available Images Low-Resolution 89k |
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Mission: | STS51F |
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Roll - Frame: | 40 - 64 |
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Geographical Name: | TURKMENISTAN |
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Features: | KARA-BOGAZ-GOL BAY |
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Center Lat x Lon: | 41.0N x 53.0E |
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Film Exposure: | N | N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus |
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: | 5 |
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Camera:: | HB |
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Camera Tilt: | 46 | LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical |
Camera Focal Length: | 250 |
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Nadir to Photo Center Direction: | N | The direction from the nadir to the center point, N=North, S=South, E=East, W=West |
Stereo?: | Y | Y=Yes there is an adjacent picture of the same area, N=No there isn't |
Orbit Number: | 27 |
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Date: | 19850731 | YYYYMMDD |
Time: | 122224 | GMT HHMMSS |
Nadir Lat: | 38.2N |
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft |
Nadir Lon: | 54.0E |
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft |
Sun Azimuth: | 265 | Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point |
Space Craft Altitude: | 173 | nautical miles |
Sun Elevation: | 36 | Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point |
Land Views: | BASIN, COAST, PLAIN |
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Water Views: | SEA, INLET |
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Atmosphere Views: | |
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Man Made Views: | |
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City Views: | |
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Associated Photos in Sequence: Photo #: STS51F-40-64 ** Currently displayed photo ** Description: TURKMENISTAN, KARA-BOGAZ-GOL--1985; INLET WATER LEVEL INCREASE Sequence ID: 11A Photo #: STS059-L06-48 Description: TURKMENISTAN, KARA-BOGAZ-GOL--1994; INLET WATER LEVEL INCREASE Sequence ID: 11B Photo #: STS073-701-33 Description: TURKMENISTAN, KARA-BOGAZ-GOL--1995; INLET WATER LEVEL INCREASE Sequence ID: 11C |
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