Mosaic Views of the Middle East

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These mosaics from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) nadir (left) and 60-degree aftward-viewing camera (right) are comprised of data covering World Reference System-2 paths 165-179 for the period August 16 - August 30, 2000. The swath-by-swath Space Oblique Mercator imagery has been remapped onto a Geographic grid. Visible at the top are Saudi Arabia and portions of the Middle East, the Nile Delta, the southeastern corner of the Mediterranean Sea, and the Red Sea. Much of the African continent is contained within these composites. Africa is cloudier and greener in the equatorial Intertropical Convergence Zone, which runs through the middle of the images. South of the equator, extensive haze is visible, particularly in the oblique camera mosaic. Because these images are created from 400-kilometer wide orbital swaths acquired on different dates, discontinuities are visible where the clouds have moved between acquisitions. Both the nadir and oblique mosaics are on the same radiometric scale.

Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/JPL, MISR Science Teams