Satellite image shows rain puddles in the world's largest contiguous sand desert

By Brooks Hays | June 15, 2018 at 5:00 PM



A tropical cyclone produced dozens of small lakes in the flats of the Rub’ al-Khali, the world’s
largest contiguous sand desert. Photo by NASA/Landsat 8/OLI

June 15 (UPI) -- An image shared by NASA this week features a rare sight, rain puddles in Rub' al-Khali, the world's largest contiguous sand desert.

At the end of May, the tropical cyclone Mekunu passed across the Arabian Peninsula. The port of Salalah, in Oman, received 11 inches of rain in just 24 hours -- two times the city's average annual precipitation total.

The storm slowed and dissipated as it traveled inland across the desert, but still had plenty of moisture left to drop.

On May 29, three days after the storm, Landsat 8's Operational Land Imager snapped a picture of the dunes of Rub' al-Khali as the satellite passed 435 miles overhead. The basins between the sand dunes can be seen filled with standing water.

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https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2018/06/15/9941529094001/