SPACEPHOTOS

Salalah, a small coastal city in southwest Oman about 80 miles (130 kilometers) from the eastern border of Yemen, is part of the arid Arabian Peninsula that is classified as a desert because it receives less than 10 inches (25 centimeters) of annual rainfall. North of Salalah, deeply dissected, low mountains that average 2500 feet (750 meters) above sea level flank the relatively narrow coastal plain. Despite arid conditions, this area of Oman offers a suitable environment for raising selected crops on a limited basis. Irrigated agriculture is necessary in this area, with most of the water provided by mountain runoff or wells. Dark green, angular field patterns indicate commercial agriculture enterprises. Some sugarcane is cultivated, and cattle are raised in this isolated, dry coastal area. Several manmade features are discernible in the photograph—three center-pivot irrigated fields; a single airport runway northwest of the largest dark field pattern; roads crossing the mountains; and some highly reflective roadways and tracks traversing the coastal plains.