Turpan depression showcased for Chinese new year

Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 04 August 2017 at 04:56:59 UTC
Author(s): Sentinel Vision team, VisioTerra, France - svp@visioterra.fr
Keyword(s): Land, hydrology, agriculture, mountains, irrigation, desert, erg, saltpan, endorheic basin, orogeny, China
Fig. 1 - S2 (04.08.2017) - 12,11,2 colour composite - A large inland sea resulting from Himalaya orogeny once lied in Turpan basin.
2D view 3D view
Fig. 2 - 4,3,2 natural colour - Flaming Mountains, the hottest place in China, are said to be too hot to support vegetation.
3D view 2D view
Located on an ancient caravane route, oases were fed by an underground irrigation system called the Karez system.
Fig. 3 - 11,8,2 colour composite - Kumtag Desert, recent intensification of agriculture drained Ayding Lake intake.
2D view
Fig. 4 - 11,8,2 colour composite - Ayding Lake, 3rd lowest depression on Earth with an alt. of -154m, is now reduced to a saltpan.
3D view 2D view
The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Space Agency or the European Union.
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024, processed by VisioTerra.
More on European Commission space:
More on ESA: S-1 website S-2 website S-3 website
More on Copernicus program: Scihub portal Cophub portal Inthub portal Colhub portal
More on VisioTerra: Sentinel Vision Portal Envisat+ERS portal Swarm+GOCE portal CryoSat portal