Photograph Identification: P-44535Silk Route,China
C, L bands
This composite image is ofan area thought to contain the ruins of the ancient settlement of Niya. It islocated in the southwest corner of the Taklamakan Desert in China's SinjiangProvince. This region was part of some of China's earliest dynasties and fromthe third century BC on was traversed by the famous Silk Road. The Silk Road,passing east-west through this image, was an ancient trade route that ledacross Central Asia's desert to Persia, Byzantium and Rome. Themulti-frequency, multi-polarized radar imagery was acquired on orbit 106 of thespace shuttle Endeavour on April 16, 1994 by the Spaceborne ImagingRadar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR). The image is centered at 37.78 degreesnorth latitude and 82.41 degrees east longitude. The area shown isapproximately 35 kilometers by 83 kilometers (22 miles by 51 miles). The imageis a composite of an image from an Earth-orbiting satellite called SystemeProbatoire d'Observation de la Terre (SPOT) and a SIR-C multi-frequency,multi-polarized radar image. The false-color radar image was created bydisplaying the C-band (horizontally transmitted and received) return in red,the L-band (horizontally transmitted and received) return in green, and theL-band (horizontally transmitted and vertically received) return in blue. Theprominent east/west pink formation at the bottom of the image is most likely aridge of loosely consolidated sedimentary rock. The Niya River -- the blackfeature in the lower right of the French satellite image -- meandersnorth-northeast until it clears the sedimentary ridge, at which point itabruptly turns northwest. Sediment and evaporite deposits left by the riverover millennia dominate the center and upper right of the radar image (in lightpink). High ground, ridges and dunes are seen among the riverbed meanderingsas mottled blue. Through image enhancement and analysis, a new featureprobably representing a man-made canal has been discovered and mapped.
![[SILK ROAD, COMPOSITE IMAGE]](SILKROA2.GIF)