Start Date: End Date: Published Date Data Date
Data acquired October 31, 1999 - December 23, 2001 540 x 899 JPEG
Data acquired October 31, 1999 - December 23, 2001 2 MB - MOV
Data acquired October 31, 1999 2400 x 1800 6 MB - GeoTIFF
Data acquired December 23, 2001 2400 x 1800 6 MB - GeoTIFF
Data acquired October 31, 1999 - December 23, 2001 40 KB - KML/KMZ
Data acquired October 31, 1999 - December 23, 2001 JPEG
Although it is now the largest desert on Earth, during the last ice age the Sahara was a savannah with a climate similar to that of present-day Kenya and Tanzania. The annual rainfall was much greater than it is now, creating many rivers and lakes that are now hidden under shifting sands or exposed as barren salt flats. Over several hundred thousand years, the rains also filled a series of vast underground aquifers. Modern African nations are now mining this fossil water to support irrigated farming projects.
Images and animation by Robert Simmon, based on data aqcuired by the Landsat 7 Science Team Landsat data is archived and distributed by the USGS EROS Data Center
Published March 2, 2002 Data acquired October 31, 1999 - December 23, 2001