OBSERVATION / 003

A sea of sand.

Landsat view of Namibia: dark rocky outcrops rising through orange dunes, with a pale road crossing the sand sea.

NASA Earth Observatory / Joshua Stevens · Landsat / USGS

Location: Namib Sand Sea / Namibia
Image acquired: November 13, 2019
Platform / instrument: Landsat 8 / OLI
Image type: Satellite image

Field notes

Dark outcrops of eroded bedrock interrupt the orange dunes on the eastern edge of the Namib Sand Sea. The contrast makes the desert look almost diagrammatic from above, with rock, sand, and drainage patterns each leaving a different mark.

The red color comes from iron oxide coating the sand grains. The outcrops stand above the surrounding plains, while occasional rain washes material down their slopes. This Landsat view captures a landscape shaped by both moving sand and older, more resistant rock.

Read NASA’s full account ↗

This is dated source imagery. The homepage overlay is a graphic treatment, not a georeferenced measurement.