Atacama Desert, satellite image. North is at top. This area of the Atacama Desert is a mountainous area where the desert merges with the foothills of the Andes. A large sandy area (yellow) is at upper left. The various colours show mineral sediments and salt deposits in this region of salt pans, canyons and mountains. This area of the Atacama Desert, the world's driest desert, is in northern Chile. The area shown in this image is around 60 kilometres wide. The image data includes infrared wavelengths, and was obtained on 28 October 2001, using the ASTER sensor on the Terra satellite.