Photograph Identification: P-44534Silk Route, China
C, L bands
This radarimage is of an area thought to contain the ruins of the ancient settlement ofNiya. It is located in the southwestern corner of the Taklamakan Desert inChina's Sinjiang Province. This oasis was part of the famous Silk Road, anancient trade route from one of China's earliest capitols, Xian, to the West. The image shows a white linear feature trending diagonally from the upper leftto the lower right. Scientists believe this newly discovered feature is aman-made canal which presumably diverted river waters toward the settlement ofNiya for irrigation purposes. The image was acquired by the Spaceborne ImagingRadar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) aboard the spaceshuttle Endeavour on its 106th orbit on April 16, 1994, and is centered at37.78 degrees north latitude and 82.41 degrees east longitude. The false-colorradar image was created by displaying the C-band (horizontally transmitted andreceived) return in red, the L-band (horizontally transmitted and received)return in green, and the L-band (horizontally transmitted and verticallyreceived) return in blue. Areas in mottled white and purple are low-lying floodplains of the Niya River. Dark green and black areas between river courses arehigher ridges or dunes confining the water flow.
![[SILK ROAD]](SILKROAD.GIF)