I believe that I found these in Egypt, but I am not 100% sure. Some times I get lost looking for cool places and end up in random places!

22 points

That is in Saudi Arabia. Not that far from the border with Jordan.

GPS 30.0095403, 38.3257591

Those are mostly alfalfa fields that Saudi decided to use a fossil aquifer to water. Their wells are running dry and which is why there is so many abandoned fields. These are areas they don’t have enough water. It’s mixed in with date palms now as well.

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11 points

Dude… did you just recognize this? how did you know? I took these pictures when I also took some pictures of Egypt and didn’t even notice that I had drifted so far away, when I found these fields!

I am speechless!

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9 points

It’s a very distinctive area from the pictures. It also helps that I have been there.

1:10 do not recommend a visit - too hot, no booze, mediocre food, and everyone smokes way too much. The oppressive culture isn’t that great either.

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8 points

And now they are growing alfalfa in California if all places to export to Saudi Arabia

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8 points

You need to explain why you’re putting three spaces between sentences.

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7 points

People using typewriters often used two spaces after a full stop.

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5 points

Hey now, I feel attacked.

We had half the typing lab full of IBM’s with 5.25" floppies running WordPerfect 5.1

The other half was the IBM selectric typewriters.

Oh and “Get off my lawn!!!”

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1 point

What’s the logic for that?

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19 points

It’s the same throughout Arizona and there’s a great smarter everyday on YouTube about this kind of irrigation.

Worth the watch and believe it or not Saudi is also buying alfalfa from Arizona too. Maybe the single worst water decision I can think of…

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7 points
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Are we certain these aren’t lithium extraction pools? Based on the color and variation in color between them and the fact that they’re in the desert, it could be a lithium mine.

Edit: oh some of them are multicolored. Hmm…

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24 points

Not sure what lithium pool look like, but this is called center-pivot irrigation, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center-pivot_irrigation, and it’s how crops are typically done in the desert where there is no river or canal to pull from. Water is piped from wherever, or drawn up from a well and pumped into the irrigation arm. It’s on wheels and slowly rotates around the point where water is being pumped in. I see these all the time in southern Arizona and California deserts.

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4 points
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3 points

Southern Idaho too

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1 point
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They have them pretty much everywhere rain isn’t reliable in the summer. There are a bunch on the east coast of the US also.

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1 point

They likely have them everywhere because it’s a dead simple solution to watering crops. I just live in the desert, so this is where I see them all the time. I figured you wouldn’t need them in place it rained, but it makes sense as different crops have different needs.

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9 points

The images are in 4K so you can zoom in quite a lot. I think some of the discolorations is down to maybe clouds getting in the way?

I’m pretty sure its farms though https://maps.app.goo.gl/FHveJiWGL8SoHjkD6

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6 points

They have very clear crop lines, that seems good evidence for OPs assessment.

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6 points

Colorado has these too

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6 points

Where do they get the water from?

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15 points

Usually every source possible. A lot of the time it’s non regenerative groundwater.

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4 points

I guess maybe it’s about getting as much as possible out of the little water that they have. Just changed the title to “dry areas” instead of actual deserts

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A place to share pictures taken from above, that reveal interesting views, fascinating places or different angles to places.

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This is not a rule! You are welcome to share any aerial picture you feel is worth sharing. I just thought that maybe some of you may need a little help. It’s really addictive once you get started!

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