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February 19, 2025 - Snow in the Taklimakan Desert
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Snow covered the northern edge of the Taklimakan Desert in early February 2025, coloring the tan desert sands with contrasting bright white snow. A thin shell of snow also sits atop tall dunes well within the center of the arid desert region.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this true-color image of the unusual sight of snow in the Taklimakan on February 2.
The Tien Shan Mountains, in the north of the image, rims the Taklimakan. As is typical in winter, the rugged mountains are covered in snow. The Tien Shan is one of the longest continuous maintain ranges in the world, stretching across 1,500 miles (2,500 km) in northwest China, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. The snow accumulated on these tall mountains provides essential fresh water year-round for the region, giving the Tien Shan the nickname “Central Asia’s Water Tower”.
These tall mountains also function as a barrier to precipitation on their southern side. The lack of precipitation has created a large rain shadow which helped create the Taklimakan Desert. The Taklimakan is surrounded by mountains on three sides, all of which have a hand in blocking precipitation in the desert. Scant rain—and less snow—falls on the Taklimakan each year.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 2/2/2025
Resolutions:
1km (150.2 KB), 500m (363.9 KB), 250m (535.6 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Snow covered the northern edge of the Taklimakan Desert in early February 2025, coloring the tan desert sands with contrasting bright white snow. A thin shell of snow also sits atop tall dunes well within the center of the arid desert region.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this true-color image of the unusual sight of snow in the Taklimakan on February 2.
The Tien Shan Mountains, in the north of the image, rims the Taklimakan. As is typical in winter, the rugged mountains are covered in snow. The Tien Shan is one of the longest continuous maintain ranges in the world, stretching across 1,500 miles (2,500 km) in northwest China, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. The snow accumulated on these tall mountains provides essential fresh water year-round for the region, giving the Tien Shan the nickname “Central Asia’s Water Tower”.
These tall mountains also function as a barrier to precipitation on their southern side. The lack of precipitation has created a large rain shadow which helped create the Taklimakan Desert. The Taklimakan is surrounded by mountains on three sides, all of which have a hand in blocking precipitation in the desert. Scant rain—and less snow—falls on the Taklimakan each year.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 2/2/2025
Resolutions:
1km (150.2 KB), 500m (363.9 KB), 250m (535.6 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
