Syrian Desert

This image was acquired by Landsat 7’s Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) sensor on June 11, 2000; it is an unusual false-color composite image made using the thermal, infrared, and green wavelengths. The image is roughly centered on the  lava fields southeast of the city of Damascus.

Between the fertile land along the Mediterranean Sea in the west and the Euphrates River hundreds of miles to the east, the lava fields of the Syrian Desert bake under the sun. The hottest terrain in the scene, which appears bright red, likely correspond to dark, barren, basaltic lava. Cooler terrain, perhaps covered with thin, scrubby vegetation, is bluish green, and pockets of more lush vegetation in oases and towns are bright green (upper left). A number of cinder cones are scattered throughout the northern part of the As Safa to the north-northwest of the large lava field in the center of the image. At the right of the image, small pools of water are colored bright blue.