English: This west-looking astronaut photograph, taken with a short focal length lens from the International Space Station, spans a wide swath of central Asia—from Afghanistan, along the length of Turkmenistan, and beyond to the Caspian Sea. Winds blowing down the largest river valley in the region, the Amudarya, were strong enough to raise a large dust storm. Dust appears as a light brown mass extending into the center of the image from the lower right. Diffuse dust from prior windy weather appears over much of the area making a regional haze that hides landscape details. The haze partly obscures the irrigated agriculture in Turkmenistan and entirely obscures the Caspian Sea. Numerous rivers rise in the Hindu Kush range (lower left). The Band-i Amir River is a major tributary of the main regional river, the Amudarya, which it reaches via a deep canyon. The Amudarya River was the major historical contributor of water to the Aral Sea, but today extensive diversion of river water for agricultural purposes has led to desiccation of the sea bed. The exposed sea bed is a major source of saline dusts contaminated with agricultural chemicals, and it poses a significant environmental and human health hazard to central Asia. To a lesser extent, dusts are also mobilized from sediments along the Amudarya River channel. The Paropamisus Range and the Amudarya (also known as the Oxus River) are mentioned in histories of Alexander the Great’s famous military expedition from Greece to India. His horsemen are described as having made a fast side excursion from near the Caspian Sea (image top right) as far as the Amudarya (image lower right).

ISS Crew Earth Observations: ISS017-E-19616

Identification
Mission	ISS017 (Expedition 17)
Roll	E
Frame	19616
Country or Geographic Name	Turkmenistan
Features	AMUDARYA RIVER, HINDU KUSH MTS, DUST STORM
Center Point Latitude	36.0° N
Center Point Longitude	63.4° E
Camera
Camera Tilt	High Oblique
Camera Focal Length	28 mm
Camera	Nikon D2Xs
Film	4288 x 2848 pixel CMOS sensor, RGBG imager color filter.
Quality
Percentage of Cloud Cover	0-10%
Nadir What is Nadir?
Date	2008-10-16
Time	10:59:53
Nadir Point Latitude	33.8° N
Nadir Point Longitude	72.5° E
Nadir to Photo Center Direction	West
Sun Azimuth	245°
Spacecraft Altitude	188 nautical miles (348 km)
Sun Elevation Angle	18°
Orbit Number	761