Faint tendrils of dust appears in the Taklimakan Desert on May 21, 2006. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) flying onboard NASA’s Aqua satellite took this picture the same day. In this image, the dust appears as a slightly lighter shade of tan partly covering the ground surface along the northern edge of the desert. In the high-resolution image, ripples in the desert’s sandy surface are visible.
Lying in the Tarim Basin, between the Tien Shan Mountains to the north and Kunlun Mountains to the south, the Taklimakan Desert is home to one of Earth’s largest shifting-sand deserts. The basin’s lowest point is roughly 150 meters (490 feet) below sea level, and salt collects in the basin due to lack of drainage. Because of its aridity and abundant sand, this desert produces many dust storms in Asia.
NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response Team.
