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    Dust Storm over the South Aral Sea: Natural Hazards

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    Dust Storm over the South Aral Sea: Natural Hazards

    WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, UNITED STATES

    08.01.2011

    Courtesy Photo

    NASA

    A dust storm formed over the South Aral Sea on the border between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on May 9, 2007. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer modis.gsfc.nasa.gov (MODIS) on NASA's terra.nasa.gov Terra satellite took this picture the same day.

    As with a earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14249 larger storm that occurred just two days earlier, this dust storm arose from a few plumes west of the Aral Sea, but primarily from sediments around the Sea itself. Dried-up lake beds provide material for dust storms, and the Aral Sea's lake beds can be easily discerned in this image, appearing in a lighter shade of beige than the surrounding land.

    Not a real sea but an inland freshwater body, the Aral Sea was once the world's fourth-largest lake. Due to river diversions, it began earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=4819 retreating in the 1960s, its water level falling low enough to split it in two: the North Aral Sea and the South Aral Sea. By the time this picture was taken, the destinies had diverged for the northern and southern portions of this lake. Thanks to conservation efforts, the North Aral Sea had earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17634 rebounded by the spring of 2007. The South Aral Sea, however, continued to decline. Dry lake bed sediments blown aloft in this image appear to originate primarily from the land surrounding the South Aral Sea.

    NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC



    NASA Identifier: aral_tmo_2007129

    IMAGE INFO

    Date Taken: 08.01.2011
    Date Posted: 10.19.2012 16:07
    Photo ID: 753241
    Resolution: 2400x3200
    Size: 912.8 KB
    Location: WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, US

    Web Views: 12
    Downloads: 0

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