January 18th, 2010 Category: Image of the day

Morocco - January 2nd, 2010

Sediments frame the western coasts of Morocco (below) and Spain (above) and flow from the Atlantic Ocean (left) through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea (right). Although water moves in both directions between the two bodies of water, on the whole and over time, the balance of the water flow is eastwards, due to an evaporation rate within the Mediterranean basin that is higher than the combined inflow of all the rivers that empty into it.

To the south, the Atlas Mountains can be seen running diagonally across Morocco and into Algeria. The entire range extends about 2,500 km (1,500 miles), all the way east to Tunisia. The Sahara Desert can be observed below this range. Another shorter range, the Rif Mountains, are visible just below the strait. These mountains are not part of the Atlas chain.

Tags: Africa Algeria Atlas Mountains Europe Mediterranean Sea Morocco Rif Mountains Sahara Desert Spain Strait of Gibraltar |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | | Leave a comment

January 14th, 2010 Category: Climate Change

Tunisia, Sardinia and Algeria - December 31st, 2009

While the south of Tunisia (lower right quadrant) and Algeria (lower left quadrant) is composed of the Sahara desert, much of the land near the coast consists of particularly fertile soil.

This FAPAR image reflects that fact: the green color along the coast indicates good photosynthetic activity, while the land to the south is yellow and white, indicating low photosynthetic activity and thus a lack of vegetation.

Sardinia can also be seen to the North and the western end of Sicily is visible to the East. Both of these Italian islands are green to dark green, meaning their vegetation index is good to high.

Tags: Africa Algeria Europe FAPAR Italy Mediterranean Sea Sardinia Sicily Tunisia |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | | Leave a comment

January 6th, 2010 Category: Snapshots

Algeria - December 16th, 2009

Tassili n’Ajjer is a mountain range in the Sahara desert in southeast Algeria, North Africa. It extends about 500 km, and the highest point is Adrar Afao, at 2158 m. The nearest town is Djanet, about 10 km southwest of the range. Much of the range is protected in a National park, Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site, named the Tassili n’Ajjer National Park.

The range is composed largely of sandstone. Erosion in the area has resulted in nearly 300 natural rock arches being formed, along with many other spectacular landforms. Because of the altitude and the water-holding properties of the sandstone, the vegetation is somewhat richer than the surrounding desert; it includes a very scattered woodland of the endangered endemic species Saharan Cypress and Saharan Myrtle in the higher eastern half of the range.

Tags: Africa Algeria Djanet Dunes Sahara Desert Tassili n'Ajjer Tassili n'Ajjer National Park |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | | Leave a comment

December 7th, 2009 Category: Snapshots

Tunisia - November 26th, 2009

Tunisia is the northernmost country on the African continent, and the smallest of the nations situated along the Atlas mountain range. It is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and Mediterranean Sea to the north and east.

The south of the country is composed of the Sahara desert, with much of the remainder consisting of particularly fertile soil and 1,300 km of coastline. A large portion of the Saharan zone to the south is part of the Jebil National Park, the largest Tunisian national park. The park has a total area of 150.000 ha, most of which belongs to the Great Eastern Erg.

Tags: Africa Algeria Atlas Mountains Great Eastern Erg Jebil National Park Libya Mediterranean Sea Sahara Desert Tunisia |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | | Leave a comment

November 29th, 2009 Category: Snapshots

Italy - November 17th, 2009

This FAPAR image shows the vegetation index of Italy, including the islands of Sardinia and Sicily, as well as Corsica and parts of coastal Tunisia and Algeria. The vegetation index corresponds to the Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation, which provides data on the planet’s climate system.

In FAPAR images, the color spectrum over land runs from red (1.0), to green, to yellow and white (0.0), while bodies of water appear blue. Dark red regions correspond to agricultural zones for which there is high photosynthetic activity and therefore vegetation productivity, while yellow to white areas, with the exception of white patches of clouds,  indicate a low degree of photosynthetic activity.

Here, some red areas can be seen on the islands of Sardinia and Sicily, while most of Italy and Corsica appears green with some yellow zones. Algeria and Tunisia show photosynthetic activity near the coast, while the area further south is yellow and white, reflecting the low photosynthetic activity of more arid regions.

Tags: Africa Algeria Corsica Europe FAPAR Italy Sardinia Sicily Tunisia |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | | Leave a comment

October 19th, 2009 Category: Snapshots

Algeria - September 29th, 2009

The Tell Atlas is a mountain chain over 1,500 kilometers in length that parallels the Mediterranean coast in North Africa. The chain belongs to the Atlas mountain ranges, stretching from Morocco, through Algeria to Tunisia. Here, the ranging can be seen running through Algeria.

The Tell Atlas enjoys a typical Mediterranean climate (warm, dry summers and mild, rainy winters with snow at upper elevations). As a consequence, the northern slopes of the Tell Atlas are forested with cedar, pine, and cork oak. Some of this vegetation appears as green areas on the right side of the image.

In the summer a hot, dry wind, the Sirocco, blows north from the Sahara across the Tell Atlas, causing dusty, dry conditions along the northern coast of Africa. Despite the arid climate, some agriculture for barley and wheat farming is found in the Tell Atlas region.

Tags: Africa Algeria Atlas Mountains Mediterranean Sea Tell Atlas |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | | Leave a comment

October 9th, 2009 Category: Lakes

Algeria - September 29th, 2009

This image of western Algeria is divided in half by a long, curving mountain range. These mountains, running from north to south through the center, reach heights of over 1400 meters to the north and gradually decrease to 800 meters to the south.

To the east of the mountains lies an expanse of sand dunes, some of which reach heights of 600 meters.

To the west lies an artificial reservoir by the town of Djorf Torba. East of the reservoir is the city of Béchar, the capital of Béchar Province, appearing here as a grey area at the foot of the mountains.

Tags: Africa Algeria Béchar Béchar Province Djorf Torba Lake Sand Dunes |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | | Leave a comment

October 7th, 2009 Category: Snapshots

Algeria - June 14th, 2009

Winds create long rows of high sand dunes in the Grand Erg Oriental, part of the Sahara Desert in Algeria. Winds over time will sweep desert sand into heaps which, given enough sand, form into a series of hills.

In some types of dunes the slope on the windward side is gradual, on the leeward steep, and such dunes may “roll” forward being blown in the direction of the wind. Vegetation does not survive in the spread of hot dry sand, unless there is water.

Tags: Algeria Grand Erg Oriental Sahara Desert Sand Dunes |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | | Leave a comment

July 10th, 2009 Category: Clouds

Spain - June 29th, 2009

A loose cloud vortex swirls counterclockwise between the island of Ibiza and Cap de la Nau (Cape of the Ship) on the Spanish mainland.

Other clouds are also visible over the Pyrenees (top center) and parts of the Mediterranean Sea, but the air currents by them have not caused vortices to form.

The other Balearic Islands are also visible, including Majorca and Minorca to the northeast of Ibiza. Algeria is visible in the lower right quadrant, while the Spanish mainland occupies the left half of the image.

Tags: Algeria Balearic Islands Cap de la Nau Cloud Vortex Ibiza Majorca Mediterranean Sea Minorca Spain |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | | Leave a comment