November 14, 2021 - Turkey
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On November 12, 2021, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this stunning
true-color image of western Turkey. The palette of colors shading the
landscape center on browns and tans with a large wash of white—all
indicative of very dry conditions. Greens paint the hillsides and the
coastline near the Mediterranean Sea, but only faint tints of green are
found inland.
Turkey has been suffering a severe and long-term drought, which has
created significant changes in the landscape just in the past year. For
example, the large white area sitting in the upper right section of the
image is Lake Tuz. Sitting in Central Turkey, the 643- square-mile
(1,665-sq.-km) lake is famous for its extraordinary flight of
flamingos, which come to the lake to breed and fatten young on the
algae in the shallow waters. According to a story published by
Phys.org, local environmentalists found about 5,000 young flamingos
perished on the lake this year due to the lack of water. The damage to
Lake Tuz is likely a combination of increasing desertification
affecting Turkey due to climate change and the overuse of both the
lake’s water and the underground water surrounding Lake Tuz.
Two other large lakes in this image, Lake Beysehir (east) and Lake
Egirdir (west) also appear to be diminished in size from only a year
ago, based on satellite imagery. Color swirling in the two lakes is
most likely primarily sediment but may also be color from algae blooms.
Both sit north of the major city, Antalya, which sits along the
Mediterranean and is bordered by the Taurus Mountains. The city is
marked by a large gray smudge, typical of man-made structures.
Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 11/12/2021
Resolutions: 1km (252.5 KB), 500m (706.2 KB), 250m (499 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=2021-11-14
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