October 26, 2020 - Snow in Tian Shan

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   Snow in Tian Shan
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   The Tian Shan Mountains form one of the longest continuous mountain
   ranges in the world, extending more than 1,500 miles (2,500 kilometers)
   across parts of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and China. The snowpack that
   falls each winter provides fresh water to the surrounding area during
   the spring as summer as it slowly melts to replenish local rivers. The
   snow that tops the Tian Shan gives rise to the range’s nickname:
   “Central Asia’s Water Tower”.

   On October 22, 2020, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
   (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of
   the snow-covered Tian Shan peaks which rim the arid Taklimakan Desert
   in northwest China.

   The Taklimakan, seen south of the mountains, is a low-lying basin
   enclosed by mountain ranges on three sides. Rain and snow will fall on
   the mountains, but have difficulty passing over the peaks, creating a
   rain shadow—an area that receives very little rain and becomes
   extremely dry most of the year. This large and persistent rain shadow
   has created the second-largest shifting sand desert on Earth. The green
   ribbon that runs south through the Taklimakan is formed by the Hotan
   River. It is fed primarily by snowmelt from the Kunlun Mountains in the
   south and runs northward through the Taklimakan to meet the Tarim River
   near the base of the Tian Shan mountains.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Terra
   Date Acquired: 10/22/2020
   Resolutions:  1km (65.2 KB),  500m (238.8 KB),  250m (809.9
   KB)
   Bands Used: 1,4,3
   Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2020-10-26
 
