One striking example is an expansive farm located on the Orange River in the midst of Africa’s driest desert south of the Sahara. The river marks the boundary between Namibia and South Africa at this location.

Normal annual rainfall at the Aussenkehr Farm is less than 2 inches, so growing any crops there without irrigation would be impossible.

So in the late 1980s, Dusan Vasiljevic began using a government-assigned allotment of water from the Orange River to turn the stark desert landscape green with thousands of acres of grapes.

And thanks to ample year-round sunshine, Vasiljevic's farm and plots leased to other growers, have since become some of the leading sources of fresh wintertime grapes in Europe.

The remote location has now become home to about 17,000 workers and small-scale farmers who live clustered in housing just north of the irrigated fields.

Nestled in the western side of the farm, along the river, is the Norotshama River Resort, where visitors can enjoy the verdant fields and river waters appearing in contrast to the surrounding desolation.

The image of the farm to the upper right was captured on February 15, 2010 by NASA’s EO-1 satellite. Just days before the Advanced Land Imager orbiting on the spacecraft acquired the image, the area experienced flooding.

Flooding along this section of the Orange River was relatively mild, and floodwaters had receded by the time the image was taken.

Full story and image: NASA