January 29th, 2010 Category: Snapshots

Egypt - January 3rd, 2010

These circular fields arranged in square and linear patterns are part of the New Valley Project in Egypt. The goal of this project is to irrigate the arid Sahara in the Western Desert of Egypt, in order to make it possible to develop agricultural and industrial communities.

The irrigation is realized by a system of canals that carry water from Lake Nasser.  Upon completion, it is hoped that the Egypt’s arable land area will have increased by 10%, providing more food for the country’s rapidly growing population.

Earlier satellite image show the progress being made; please click here to see previous images of the area. Upon comparison it can be observed that the numbers of fields has increased over the last few months.

Tags: Africa Circular Crops Egypt Irrigation Lake Nasser New Valley Project Sahara Desert Western Desert | | Comments (1)

July 14th, 2009 Category: Snapshots

Egypt - June 14th, 2009

The Western Desert covers about 700,000 square kilometers of land to the west of the Nile in Egypt and Libya. The land visible in this orthorectified image is located in central Egypt.

This immense desert accounts for about two-thirds of Egypt’s land area, spanning from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sudanese border.

The desert’s Jilf al Kabir Plateau has an altitude of about 1,000 meters, an exception to the uninterrupted territory of basement rocks covered by layers of horizontally bedded sediments forming a massive plain or low plateau.

The Great Sand Sea, upper left quadrant, lies within the desert’s plain and extends from the Siwa Oasis to Jilf al Kabir. Here, lines of high sand dunes separated by flat basins can be observed.

Escarpments (ridges) and deep depressions (basins) exist in several parts of the Western Desert, and no rivers or streams drain into or out of the area.

Tags: Egypt Great Sand Sea Jilf al Kabir Plateau Orthorectification Sand Dunes Western Desert | | Leave a comment