The red- and green-hued waterbodies in this photograph are remnants of Razazah Lake, an artificial lake in central Iraq. The lake, also known as Baḩr al-Milḩ (“Sea of Salt” in Arabic), is fed by overflow from Habbaniyah Lake, which lies just outside the top left corner of the image. An astronaut on the International Space Station (ISS) took the photo on September 23, 2024.
The difference in water color results from the various communities of algae that thrive in the lake depending on the water temperature and salinity. Green areas contain lower salt concentrations than red areas. At times when the lake receives no overflow from Habbaniyah Lake, as shown in this image, most of the lakebed is exposed. (A photo taken in 2002 shows Razazah Lake with much higher water levels.)
Various agricultural patterns surround the lake. Most prominent are intensively farmed fields east of Karbalā’. Small circular fields, the product of center-pivot irrigation, appear west of the city. The water comes from the nearby Euphrates River (not in the image) via a network of canals.
References & Resources
Astronaut photograph ISS072-E-244 was acquired on September 23, 2024, with a Nikon Z9 digital camera using a focal length of 200 millimeters. It is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by a member of the Expedition 72 crew . The image has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth . Caption by Justin Wilkinson, Texas State University, Amentum JETS II Contract at NASA-JSC.
