Pictured is the extraordinary landscape of the Tanezrouft Basin, one of the most desolate parts of the Sahara desert, in south-central Algeria. The region is known as “land of terror” because of its lack of water and vegetation.
The region is characterised by dark sandstone hills, steep canyon walls, salt flats (white), stone plateaus, sandstone outcrop patterns of concentric loops, and sprawling seas of multi-storey sand dunes known as ergs. Erg Mehedjibat, which appears as a yellow bouquet of flowers (upper right), is made up of a cluster of small star dunes that grow upwards rather than laterally.
Japan’s ALOS (Advanced Land Observing Satellite) captured this image with its Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type-2 (AVNIR-2) instrument.
Image credit: JAXA, ESA