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lake have appear in the Sahara after a cyclone lend a deluge of rain to northern Africa that drenched swathes of the magnanimous hot desert on Earth , satellite image show .
An extratropical cyclone hit parts of Morocco , Algeria , Tunisia and Libya on Sept. 7 and 8 , overleap around 8 inches ( 20 centimeters ) on the unnatural areas — equivalent to an entire year ’s Charles Frederick Worth of rain in just a few days , according toNASA ’s Earth Observatory .
The Sebkha el Melah ephemeral lake in Algeria, seen on Aug. 12 and Sept. 29.
The flood and runoff filled multiple ephemeral lake in the Sahara , including the Sebkha el Melah in Algeria and several disperse around the Erg Chebbi — avast expanse of star dunesin Morocco . NASA ’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer ( MODIS ) on the Terra artificial satellite also capture several ephemeral lakes appear across parts of Morocco and Algeria .
The Erg Chebbi lake fill after river from the nearby Atlas Mountains overflowed tight to Merzouga , a town near the Algerian border that serves as a gateway to the star sand dune . An icon captured on Oct. 1 by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 artificial satellite shows new lake dot around the edges of Erg Chebbi .
NASA ’s Landsat 9 orbiter get the figure of the newly filled Sebkha el Melah lake in Algeria . Images captured on Aug. 12 and Sept. 29 and deal by Earth Observatory show change to the landscape , with a green lake come along in the desert .
Images of Erg Chebbi, with the first showing the region in 2021, the second after the deluge, taken Oct. 1, 2024.
The lake covered 74 straight miles ( 191 square kilometers ) and was approximately 7.2 feet ( 2.2 meters ) deep , fit in to calculations byMoshe Armon , a older lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem . Armon used satellite image to establish the extent of the water combined with a 3D function of the lake , according to Earth Observatory .
Since 2000 , there have been two times when water levels at Sebkha el Melah were higher than they are now . In 2008 , the lake filled after an extratropical cyclone that led to exceptionally heavy rainfall . It have four years for the lake to completely dry out up again .
The water system presently fill Sebkha el Melah will likely remain for some time . " If we do n’t get any more pelting events , a 2.2 - meter depth , like we have now , would take about a yr to evaporate completely , " Armon said in the statement .
Images showing Algeria and Morocco on Aug. 14 and Oct. 9.
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translate how rain events like the cyclone in September impact the Sahara help researchers better sympathise what the desert was like G of years ago , when it was green , and how it will commute in the future as a result of clime change .
Current projections suggest parts of the Sahara will receive more rain , but there are huge uncertainties . " What ’s going to happen in the Sahara remain very ill-defined , but we hope that we ’ll finally develop a better understanding of the Sahara ’s future by studying these lake - fill issue , " Armon said .
