The sandy and rocky terrain of the Sahara desert in central Algeria is featured in these images captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.

The images show the extraordinary landscape within the Tanezrouft Basin, one of the most desolate parts of the Sahara desert. Known for its soaring temperatures and its lack of water and vegetation, the region is often referred to as the ‘Land of Terror’.

These two images were processed in false colour by selecting specific spectral bands from the shortwave and near-infrared channels that can be used for classifying and monitoring geological features. In extremely arid regions such as this with little or no vegetation, this band combination enhances the contrast between different surface materials, making the geological and hydrological patterns easier to distinguish compared to natural-colour imagery.

Here, the colours represent the varying mineral composition of the surface, which is clearly visible owing to the lack of vegetation. The shades of red and brown denote bare sandstone outcrops, steep canyon walls and stone plateaus. Exposed sandstone strata of concentric rings create stunning patterns predominantly in the top left.

Areas displaying colours from cyan to white are salt flats, evaporite basins, dry riverbeds and multistorey sand dunes known as ‘ergs’. The distinctive feature that stands out as a bright white bouquet of flowers in the centre of the image is Erg Mehedjibat, which is made up of a cluster of small star dunes that grow upward rather than across.

In mid-February 2026, powerful winds triggered a lot of Saharan dust to blow across Algeria. The image on the right, captured on 14 February, shows this massive dust cloud. The false-colour combination clearly reveals a distinct dust veil, rendered in cyan hues, extending from the top-left across the centre of the image. The sharp, rocky landscape that was visible in the left image from 9 February, is here washed out or almost completely masked by the storm.

Dust from the Sahara can be carried by strong winds over vast distances, contributing to poor air quality hazardous to human health. Satellites are a valuable tool to observe large areas of desert, and can track and help predict the movement of dust storms for early-warning alerts.