Part of Lake Nasser, one of the biggest artificial lakes worldwide, is included in this false-color image recorded by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission. Credit: Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2022 ), processed by ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
Part of Lake Nasser, among the biggest artificial lakes on the planet, is included in this false-color image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.
Lake Nasser, visible in the lower-right in black, is a vast lake and reservoir located in southern Egypt and northern Sudan. The lake was produced as a result of the building and construction of the Aswan High Dam across the waters of the Nile in the late-1960s. This ambitious project was designed to offer watering to brand-new farming advancements and draw in people to the area.
The dam is situated around 200 km northeast of the area pictured here and can not be seen. The dam takes floodwaters from the Nile, releasing them when needed to optimize their energy on irrigated land, to water numerous countless hectares of land downstream, but also in the neighboring area. The dam also helps improve navigation through Aswān and creates an enormous amount of hydroelectric power. The lake covers an overall area of 5250 sq km, yet is reasonably shallow with an average depth of 25 m.
Lake Nasser, noticeable in the lower-right in black, is a large lake and tank located in southern Egypt and northern Sudan. The lake was developed as an outcome of the building and construction of the Aswan High Dam throughout the waters of the Nile in the late-1960s. The increase and fall of the lakes depend on multi-year fluctuations in water flow from the Nile. Summer season rainfall in Sudan in 2019 and record-breaking floods in 2020, resulted in the quick filling of the lakes waters.
The ancient Egyptian temple of Abu Simbel laid in the course of the increasing waters produced by the dam, resulting in the relocation of the temple complex. In the 1960s, the archaeological site was taken apart piece by piece and reassembled in a brand-new area to avoid submersion. The resolution of the image does not allow us to see the temple in information, the town of Abu Simbel and its airport can be spotted at the bottom of the image, close to several plantations seen in red.
Part of the Toshka Lakes, natural depressions that are filled by overflow from Lake Nasser, can be seen in the top-left of the image. These endorheic lakes were produced in the 1980s and 1990s by the diversion of water from Lake Nasser through the manmade canal noticeable in green in the image.
The fluctuate of the lakes depend on multi-year changes in water circulation from the Nile. From 2012 to 2018, the lakes had shrunk substantially, leaving just little residues of water in the basins. Summertime rainfall in Sudan in 2019 and record-breaking floods in 2020, resulted in the fast filling of the lakes waters. The lakes are fairly salted, with noticeable indications of eutrophication and algae development.
This image is a false-color composite and was produced by utilizing the near-infrared channel from Copernicus Sentinel-2 to emphasize the limited greenery in the location. This assists determine the presence of pivot irrigation fields, noticeable as circular shapes in the image, with the biggest having a diameter of around 750 m.
Pivot irrigation systems work where watering equipment rotates around a set water supply point and crops are watered with sprinklers. This type of watering helps farmers manage their watering demands and helps save their water sources.