SPACEPHOTOS

Omsk Area, Russia November 1994. The Russian city of Omsk (center of image), estimated 1989 population over 1 million people, is located near the southern margin of the extensive West Siberian Plain. The city is important as a transportation, industrial (concentration of assorted plants, including oil refineries), and administrative center. A major part of Omsk is on the east bank of the north-flowing Irtysh River (dark, winding feature that extends from top to bottom of the image). The ability to discern some street patterns within the urban area is enhanced by the snow cover. Agricultural field patterns (angular-looking features) particularly south and northwest of the city are visible in spite of the snow cover on the rural landscape. The pock marked terrain northeast of the city (lower left) shows an extensive low-lying, swampy region. The westerly draining Om River (thin, dark, meandering line) can be traced across the rural countryside east of Omsk before the river joins the Irtysh River near downtown Omsk. The dark, linear features that extend outward from Omsk are either railroad, highway, or pipeline right of ways, with the major east-west linear feature being the Trans Siberian Railroad which passes along the south side of Omsk