Gypsum dune field in White Sands, New Mexico, USA

Sentinel-1 CSAR IW acquired on 04 November 2017 at 01:07:47 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 10 November 2017 at 17:45:39 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 30 December 2018 at 17:47:31 UTC
Author(s): Sentinel Vision team, VisioTerra, France - svp@visioterra.fr
Keyword(s): Land, sand dunes, geology, erg, erosion, desert, endorheic basin, national park, United States, USA
Fig. 1 - S2 (30.12.2018) - 8,4,3 colour composite - White sand gypsum dunes are almost white as the snow visible north and west.
3D view
Selenite crystals cover the Alkali flat & Lake Lucero's shore. Weathering & erosion break those into sand-size grains that form the white dunes.
Fig. 2 - 12,11,2 composite - White Sands is the largest gypsum dune field on earth with 715 km², twice more adding quartz-based dunes.
3D view
Fig. 3 - S1 (04.11.2017) - vv,vh,ndi(vh,vv) - Water-soluble, gypsum rarely exists in sand form; White Sands lies in an arid endorheic basin.
3D view
Fig. 4 - S2 (10.11.2017) - 4,3,2 natural colour - Unlike quartz-based sand dunes, the gypsum convert very little of the sun's energy into heat.
3D 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.
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