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recently, floods occurred in the taklimakan desert, the largest desert in china, causing the roads crossing the taklimakan desert to be flooded, and many vehicles stalled and had difficulty moving forward.

china's eagle-eyed satellites also captured the scenes before and after the flood in the taklimakan desert in xinjiang.

the tarim river flows through the northern edge of the taklimakan desert. the following pictures show parts of the tarim river on august 18 (left) and august 24 (right).

image source: china resources satellite application center

from the red circle in the picture above, we can see that the river water was flowing in the riverbed on august 18. on august 24, the green river water had overflowed the riverbed and entered the desert, and part of the road passing through this area was also submerged by the river water.

the following animated image, composed of multiple satellite images taken between july 26 and august 26, shows the changing process of local flooding in the taklimakan desert.

image source: china resources satellite application center

the animated image shows: on july 26, there was no sign of flooding in the desert. starting from august 21, the flood gradually invaded the highway. on august 25, the flood submerged the highway. on august 26, the flood on the highway had receded. if you look closely, you can even vaguely see cars driving on the highway.

screenshot of a video of desert floods shot by netizens on august 24. image source: xinjiang radio and television station

the taklimakan desert is located in southern xinjiang. it is the largest desert in my country, the tenth largest desert in the world, and the second largest mobile desert in the world. it was once described by western explorers as the "sea of ​​death." the average annual precipitation in the area does not exceed 100 mm, and the lowest is only 4 or 5 mm.

many foreign tourists find the desert floods incredible.

on august 24, dilinur and her group drove from aksu to hotan. it rained all day on the highway near aksu, and about 15 kilometers ahead of the ajiele service area, they encountered floods again. she felt incredible: "the desert and floods are totally unrelated. we have traveled that road many times, and every time there was a sandstorm."

according to her recollection, the road, which used to have few vehicles, was severely congested that day. the flood passed through the desert and spread to the road. the water was about 1 meter deep, flowing slowly, and the water was very clear, with fish. along the way, she saw many cars broke down. the traffic police were directing vehicles on the road, but they did not allow large vehicles to continue moving due to concerns about safety issues.

the flood spread for seven or eight kilometers, and the road ahead was still dry and hot. she also observed a change along the road: the vegetation in the desert was much greener than last year.

there is more vegetation along the desert highway. photo/provided by the interviewee

in fact, floods in the desert are not uncommon. according to xinjiang daily, the tarim river and its source tributaries, such as the hotan river and the yarkand river, often have snowmelt floods that overflow the river channels and appear in the desert. from 2017 to 2021 alone, xinjiang has recorded more than 20 disasters caused by heavy rain and flash floods.

the above satellite images are the result of observations of flooded areas by multiple satellites arranged by the china resources satellite application center, including gaofen-6, ziyuan-3-02, and gaofen-1-02.

subsequently, the china resources satellite center will continue to closely monitor the flood disaster in the taklimakan desert in xinjiang.