Morocco

Eastern Morocco

P-48663 May 22, 1997

This spaceborne radar image shows how the Atlas Mountains in
northwestern Africa dominate the geography of Morocco. The image shows
a part of the eastern flank of these mountains near the town of
Rissani, approximately 50 kilometers (31 miles) from its border with
Algeria. The striking bright patterns are the complex folds in the
layered rocks of this region. Careful examination of the image shows
areas where the folded structures have been disrupted due to fault
movement and earthquakes. Dark areas between the rock outcrops are
covered in sand and serve as channels for seasonal streams in this
arid region. Scientists can use images like this one to map the
geology and drainage patterns in arid regions. The area shown is 44
kilometers by 34 kilometers (27 miles by 21 miles) centered at 31
degrees north latitude, 4.4 degrees west longitude; north is toward
the upper right. Colors are assigned to different radar frequencies
and polarizations as follows: red is L-band horizontally transmitted,
horizontally received; green is C-band horizontally transmitted,
horizontally received; blue is C-band horizontally transmitted,
vertically received. The image was acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging
Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture (SIR-C/X- SAR) imaging radar when it
flew aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on April 15,
1994. SIR-C/X-SAR, a joint mission of the German, Italian and United
States space agencies, is part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth
program.