August 21st, 2010 Category: Mountains

Northern Africa - August 5th, 2010

The image thumbnail focuses on ergs (seas of sand dunes) and mountains in eastern Algeria (left half) and western Libya (right half). The two mountain ranges are the Tassili n’Ajjer (center, dark brown), and the Ahaggar Mountains (bottom center, lighter brown). Some dust can be seen blowing over the Ahaggar range.

The full image reaches from the shores of Tunisia (top) to the Aïr Mountains in Niger (bottom). The Kerkennah Islands (above) and the island of Djerba (below) can be seen near the Tunisian coast. Some greenish sediments can be seen around the islands.

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August 4th, 2010 Category: Lakes

Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania - July 17th, 2010

Several lakes can be observed in this image of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania: Lake Victoria, which covers the majority of the image, Lake Kyoga (above the former) and part of Lake Albert (top left corner). The Victoria Nile flows through Lake Kyoga on its way from Lake Victoria to Lake Albert.

Lake Victoria is the largest lake on the African continent, with a surface area of 68,800 square kilometres (26,600 sq mi). Lake Kyoga, on the other hand, is significantly smaller, at about 1,720 km² (664 square miles) in area.

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July 6th, 2010 Category: Lakes

Tanzani and DRC - June 9th, 2010

Lake Tanganyika, divided among the four countries of Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Tanzania and Zambia, is surrounded by clouds here, although the skies above the lake itself are clear.

The DRC (45%) and Tanzania (41%) possess the majority of the lake. Here, the Tanzania side is mostly obscured by cloud cover, while the DRC side is much clearer and shows parts of the Congo Rainforest, which covers most of the low-lying central basin of the Congo River, and the savannas typical of the southern parts of the country.

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July 2nd, 2010 Category: Rivers, Salt Flats

Southern Africa - June 2nd, 2010

Parts of the countries of Angola (upper left quadrant), Zambia (upper right quadrant), Botswana (lower right quadrant), Namibia (lower left quadrant) can all be observed here.

The large, whitish area in the lower left corner in the Etosha Pan. It is a large endorheic salt pan, forming part of the Namib Desert in the north of Namibia. The 120-kilometre-long (75-mile-long) lakebed some gets covered with a thin layer of water after heavy rains, but usually remains dry.

The dark green area to the lower right is the Okavango Delta, the world’s largest inland delta. It forms where the waters of the Okavango River spill onto the sands of the Kalahari desert in northern Botswana.

Visible as an elogated, golden green area north of the delta is the Barotse Floodplain. One of Africa’s great wetlands, it is found on the Zambezi River in the Western Province of Zambia. It is a designated Ramsar site, regarded as being of high conservation value.

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July 1st, 2010 Category: Lakes

Central Africa - April 17th, 2010

Several lakes can be seen in Central Africa, by the borders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (upper right), Zambia (lower left), Tanzania (upper right) and Malawi (lower right). Most of these borders are near the three large lakes visible: Lake Tanganyika, Lake Rukwa and Lake Malawi.

Only the southern end of Lake Tanganyika (blue, upper left corner) and the northern end of Lake Malawi (blue, lower right corner) are visible; however, these lakes are quite large and are considered to be two of the Great Lakes of Africa. These great lakes are located in and around the geographic Great Rift Valley formed by the action of the tectonic East African Rift. Lake Rukwa (brown with sediments, above) is a Rift Valley lake although not considered one of the African Great Lakes.

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June 28th, 2010 Category: Mountains, Rivers

Cameroon - June 7th, 2010

The Sanaga River is a river of South Province, Cameroon, Centre Province, Cameroon, and West Province, Cameroon. Its length is 890 kilometers.

The Sanaga River crosses Cameroon, forming a boundary between two tropical moist forest ecoregions. It also marks the difference between the lower-laying lands of southern Cameroon and the mountainous plateaux region to the North.

This APM image combines two signals, acquired simultaneously, making it possible to better observe the differences in elevation. Upon opening the full image, more of the ridges of the mountainous region can be observed to the North.

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June 26th, 2010 Category: Lakes

Ghana - June 8th, 2010

This image shows the grassland plains of northern Ghana, light brown, giving way to the heavily forested southern regions of the country, bright green. Ghana’s terrain is generally flat, as it is dominated by the basin of the Volta River.

Visible near the bottom, surrounded by clouds, is Lake Volta, the largest reservoir by surface area in the world (about 8,502 km² [3,275 square miles]). It is also the fourth largest reservoir by water volume.

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June 24th, 2010 Category: Mountains, Rivers

Congo - June 11th, 2010

This APM image shows part of the Plateaux Department of the Republic of the Congo, in the central part of the country. It borders the departments of Cuvette, Lékoumou, and Pool, and internationally, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the east and Gabon on the west.

This APM (Alternate Polarization Medium resolution) image makes clear the topographical similarities and differences of the department by acquiring two signals simultaneously and combining them. Here, it highlights the difference between low-lying river valleys, generally light green, and the higher altitude plateaus, darker green, for which the department is named.

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June 22nd, 2010 Category: Lakes

Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya - June 10th, 2010

Most of Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa and chief reservoir of the Nile, extends outwards from the left edge of this image. The lake lies mainly in Tanzania (below) and Uganda (above) but also borders on Kenya (eastern shores).

Among the freshwater lakes of the world it is exceeded in size only by Lake Superior in North America, its area being 26,828 square miles (69,484 square km).

An irregular quadrilateral in shape, its shores, save on the west, are deeply indented. Its greatest length from north to south is 210 miles (337 km), its greatest breadth 150 miles (240 km). Its coastline exceeds 2,000 miles (3,220 km).

Upon opening the full image, Lake Turkana is visible to the north. While Lake Victoria appears navy blue and mostly clear of sediments and algae, Lake Turkana is colored green and rusty red.

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