GLOBAL SNAPSHOT

摘要

Uses of information: Following the course of the Euphrates River, a large sandstorm swept over Iraq Sept. 14. Sandstorms are common in Iraq's desert terrain, especially during the summer when a strong northwesterly wind called the shamal blows over the floodplain of Iraq's Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The wind picked up dust at distinct points in the northwest (upper-left corner). Dust rises from these points in distinct plumes that blend together as they blow southeast. In the Envisat Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer image at left, Lake Tharthar, the teardrop-shaped body of water in the upper-right corner, is located 120 kilometers north of Baghdad between the Tigris River, the dark line to the left of Tharthar and the Euphrates River, visible to the right of Tharthar.