Oyyl Dune Field, Kazakhstan

An astronaut wanting down from the Worldwide Area Station (ISS) photographed this dune area close to the village of Oyyl, Kazakhstan. The dunes are located on the Kazakh Steppe and inside a broad floodplain the place three rivers converge. The dunes span roughly 190 sq. kilometers (75 sq. miles) in space and are situated 280 kilometers (175 miles) northeast of the Caspian Sea.

Dune fields develop in areas the place there’s a important provide of sand and ample wind speeds to move the grains. Fluvial floodplains are one widespread supply of sand, so dune fields typically kind instantly downwind of them. Floodplains and dune fields typically occupy areas referred to as “sinks”—topographic low areas the place sediment is deposited. The sink proven right here sits roughly 90 meters (300 ft) beneath the elevation of the encompassing steppe.

Though sand dunes dominate the panorama, vegetation provides quite a lot of small, darker-colored patches to the interdune areas. Clusters of vegetation are extra plentiful on the lower-elevation south aspect of the dune area, the place the floor is probably going nearer to the water desk. The presence of vegetation could point out that some dunes are within the technique of turning into anchored in place.

Past the panorama options, the photograph additionally reveals human-made signatures. Most evident is a highway between the villages of Oyyl and Kumzhargan. An agricultural area can be seen on the northern outskirts of Kumzhargan.

Astronaut {photograph} ISS067-E-86970 was acquired on June 15, 2022, with a Nikon D5 digital digital camera utilizing a focal size of 400 millimeters. It’s offered by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Distant Sensing Unit, Johnson Area Middle. The picture was taken by a member of the Expedition 67 crew. The picture has been cropped and enhanced to enhance distinction, and lens artifacts have been eliminated. The Worldwide Area Station Program helps the laboratory as a part of the ISS Nationwide Lab to assist astronauts take footage of Earth that will probably be of the best worth to scientists and the general public, and to make these pictures freely obtainable on the Web. Further pictures taken by astronauts and cosmonauts may be seen on the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Pictures of Earth. Caption by Cadan Cummings, Jacobs, JETS Contract at NASA-JSC.