September 30, 2020 - The Arid Heart of Central Asia

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   The Arid Heart of Central Asia
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   On September 27, 2020, NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over Central Asia,
   allowing the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on
   board to acquire a true-color image of the arid landscape of the
   region.

   Parts of three countries are visible in this image: Kazakhstan (north),
   Uzbekistan (center), and Turkmenistan (south). While much of the
   landscape of all three countries has always been arid in recent
   history, this area was a notable exception, thanks to the flowing
   waters of two major rivers, the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, which fed
   vegetation along the riversides and filled the Aral Sea, making it the
   fourth-largest lake on Earth and a vibrant, fish-filled lake supporting
   a flourishing economy.

   A contemporary description was penned by the Polish Writer Ryszard
   Kapuściński as he traveled in this region in the 1950s. He states,
   “Central Asia is deserts and more deserts, fields of brown weathered
   stones, the heat from the sun above, sandstorms. But the world of the
   Syr Darya and the Amu Darya is different. Arable fields stretch along
   both rivers, abundant orchards; everywhere profusions of nut trees,
   apple trees, fig trees, palms, pomegranates…This way, too, passed the
   loaded-down caravans of the Silk Road, thanks to which the markets of
   Venice and Florence, Nice and Seville, acquired their importance and
   color”.

   In the 1950s and 1960s the government of the Soviet Union wanted to
   exchange small farms for cotton and other more marketable or profitable
   crops. The two major rivers, both the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya, were
   diverted to the expanding agriculture. Dams, canals and other water
   works were built. Although this diversion did make parts of the
   surrounding desert bloom, the loss of the rivers' inflow soon dried up
   the Aral Sea, leaving only a small remnant of water and a crust of
   minerals and pesticide-rich dust.

   Today's much-reduced Aral Sea sits in the northwest section of the
   image and appears as a cluster of virtually disconnected small lakes.
   To the southeast the “shadow” of the original Aral Sea is crusted in
   white mineral. At the edge of this shadow sits the Aralkum Desert, a
   new desert created by the loss of the Aral Sea. Rich in pesticides, the
   fine dust is easily blown by the wind and has been reported to travel
   to Russia, Norway, and even Antarctica. In the southeast, a rope of
   green marks the Amu Darya as it winds towards the Aral Sea, and the
   broad expanse of green marks where the waters spill, unable to reach
   the lake. The remnants of the Syr Darya can be seen twisting in the
   northeast, running along the edge of the red sands of the Kyzylkum
   Desert and disappearing into the desert.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Aqua
   Date Acquired: 9/27/2020
   Resolutions:  1km (105.6 KB),  500m (370.5 KB),  250m (1.1 MB)
   Bands Used: 1,4,3
   Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2020-09-30
 
