Crop Circles from Space

Crop circles yes, alien origin, no.

The Al Khufrah Oasis in southeastern Libya, near the Egyptian border, is one of Libya's largest agricultural projects. It's easy to spot from International Space Station.

This picture was taken Oct. 28 by an astronaut with a Kodak 760C digital camera and a 180 mm lens.

Because only about 2 percent of Libya's land gets enough rainfall to be cultivated, a unique project directs water from a large underground aquifer to make farming possible. The irrigation system pumps water under pressure into a gantry or tubular arm from a central source. Anchored by a central pivot, the gantry slowly rotates over the area to be irrigated, thereby producing the circular patterns.

Although the field diameters vary, each is about 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) in diameter. Darker colors indicate fields where such crops as wheat and alfalfa are grown. Lighter colors can indicate a variety of agricultural processes: fields that have been harvested recently; fields that are lying fallow; fields that have just been planted; or fields that have been taken out of production.

The Libyan government also has a plan to transport these groundwater reserves to the coast to support the country's growing population and industrial development. They call it the Great Man Made River project.

-- LiveScience Staff

Credit: NASA/JSC