December 16, 2007 - Algeria and France

Algeria and France

The MODIS on the Terra satellite captured this view of Algeria on December 9, 2007. Along the northern coastline of Algeria, the rugged Atlas Mountains block moisture from the Mediterranean Sea (top) from reaching the interior Sahara Desert. South of the mountains, several impermanent salt lakes appear as grayish patches. Lines of sand dunes are visible in the high-resolution images, especially in the orange sands of the eastern Grand Erg Desert (right of center).

Algeria is bordered by Tunisia and Libya in the east and Morocco in the west. Black lines show where the country borders are. In the upper left corner is the country of Spain. North of Algeria and east of Spain, at the top center of the image, are the Balearic Islands. Partially cut off at the top is the big island of Mallorca. Below and to the left are Ibiza and Eivissa. Menorca is northeast of Mallorca and not visible on this image.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 12/9/2007
Resolutions: 1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC