Though vegetation is sparse in the deserts surrounding the Nile River, it is not altogether absent, as these true- and false-color Aqua MODIS images from January 26, 2003, attest. In the true-color image, olive-green colored vegetation is visible along the lower Egyptian Nile (top right), north of Lake Nasser. What could be microscopic marine life, such as algae, is also visible in the southern waters of Lake Nasser, right along the Egypt-northern Sudan border. But the false-color image reveals patches of green vegetation far out into the Western Desert (upper left corner), the Eastern Desert (upper right corner), and the Nubian Desert (lower right). In the false-color image, water appears black, vegetation-free lands appear as a range of pale-salmons to vibrant orange-reds, and vegetated lands appear as a range of greens.
Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC
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