File:ISS-30 Agricultural fields in the Wadi As-Sirhan Basin in Saudi Arabia.jpg

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English: Agricultural fields in the Wadi As-Sirhan Basin in Saudi Arabia are featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 30 crew member on the International Space Station.
  • Northern Saudi Arabia hosts some of the most extensive sand and gravel deserts in the world, but modern agricultural technology has changed the face of some of them. This photograph presents the almost surreal image of abundant green fields in the midst of a barren desert – specifically the Wadi As-Sirhan Basin of northwestern Saudi Arabia.
  • As recently as 1986 there was little to no agricultural activity in the area, but over the subsequent 26 years agricultural fields have been steadily developed, largely as a result of investment of oil industry revenues by the Saudi government. The fields use water pumped from subsurface aquifers and is distributed in rotation about a center point within a circular field – a technique known as center-pivot agriculture. This technique affords certain benefits relative to more traditional surface irrigation such as better control of water use and application of fertilizers. The use of this so-called "precision agriculture" is particularly important in regions subject to high evaporative water loss; by better controlling the amount and timing of water application, evaporative losses can be minimized. Crops grown in the area include fruits, vegetables, and wheat.
  • For a sense of scale, agricultural fields in active use (dark green) and fallow (brown to tan), are approximately one kilometer in diameter. While much of the Wadi As-Sirhan Basin shown here is sandy (light tan to brown surfaces) and relatively flat, low hills and rocky outcrops (dark gray) of underlying sedimentary rocks are visible at left and right.


International Space Station InsigniaISS Crew Earth Observations: ISS030-E-90918International Space Station Insignia
Identification
Mission ISS030 (Expedition 30)
Roll E
Frame 90918
Country or Geographic Name Saudi Arabia
Features WADI AS-SIRHAN, CENTER PIVOT AGRICULTURE, TUBARJAL
Center Point Latitude 30.0° N
Center Point Longitude 38.5° E
Camera
Camera Tilt 40°
Camera Focal Length 65 mm
Camera Nikon D2Xs
Film 4288 x 2848 pixel CMOS sensor, RGBG imager color filter.
Quality
Percentage of Cloud Cover 0-10%
Nadir What is Nadir?
Date 2012-02-21
Time 12:10:21
Nadir Point Latitude 30.4° N
Nadir Point Longitude 41.3° E
Nadir to Photo Center Direction West
Sun Azimuth 230°
Spacecraft Altitude 202 nautical miles (374 km)
Sun Elevation Angle 34°
Date
Source http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-30/html/iss030e090918.html
Author NASA
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This image or video was catalogued by Johnson Space Center of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under Photo ID: ISS030-E-090918.

This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing.
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Public domain This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.)
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current01:52, 7 March 2012Thumbnail for version as of 01:52, 7 March 20124,288 × 2,848 (1.05 MB)Ras67 (talk | contribs){{Information |Description={{en1=Agricultural fields in the Wadi As-Sirhan Basin in Saudi Arabia are featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 30 crew member on the International Space Station. * Northern Saudi Arabia hosts some of the most ...

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