A new look at northeastern Iran - Earth.com

A new look at northeastern Iran

10-25-2016

The Sentinel-2A satellite shows us new footage from northeastern Iran, the second largest country in the Middle East.

Iran is in a dryland area classified as arid and semi-arid and characterized by rangeland, barren land and mountains.

At the center and the top left we can see alluvial fans, formed when streams or rivers hit plains and spread out. They represent the distinct pattern of water runoff from the mountains, where the eroded soil, with the help of rain, is carried from the mountain slopes to lower land.

At top left, resembling brush strokes in a painting, we can see the seasonal accumulation of water with various salt minerals evident as greys and whites.

Scattered throughout the image are many agricultural plots, distinct in such an arid and mountainous region featuring various rocky formations.

At the far right, the city of Bajestan is visible, with many agricultural fields around it. It is a city with a population of some 11,000. Saffron and pomegranate are its most important products, grown in the various plots on the left.

The shades of red indicate how sensitive the multispectral instrument on Sentinel-2A is to differences in chlorophyll content, providing key information on vegetation health.

Various towns or settlements are represented in grays throughout the image.

Credit: European Space Agency

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