Faadhippolhu
- Landsat 7
- Path 145 Row 056
- 21 January 2001
An atoll of the northern group, Faadhippolhu (Lhaviyani Atoll) lies 60 km north across the Kardiva Channel from North Male and 18 km northeast from South Maalhosmadulu. The atoll forms the Lhaviyani Atoll administrative unit.
Approximately rectangular in shape, Faadhippolhu measures 36 km northwest to southeast and 17 km across the centre (northeast to southwest). There are 52 islets in total, with Hinnavaru (7.24 ha), Maafilaafushi (49.20 ha), Kurendhoo (19.70 ha), Naifaru (14.27 ha) and Olhuvelifushi (19.9 ha) being the most important. The outer reef rim of the atoll is composed of 27 units separated by narrow passages — passages are much larger on the more open western side of the atoll. All the reefs of the perimeter are generally quite small with the exception of the southeastern rim which, by contrast, consists of a single large reef. Most reefs contain small lagoons and one or more islands.
image: millenium coral reefs landsat archive/usf millenium global coral reef mapping project/nasa seawifs/nasa jsc
