June 13, 2023 - Cloud Bank over the Gran Chaco

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On June 11, 2023, a large bank of thick cloud hugged the eastern slope
of the Andes Mountains, blanketing the Gran Chaco of southern Bolivia,
western Paraguay, and northern Argentina. The Moderate Resolution
Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite acquired a
true-color image of the scene on that same day.

The winter-time cloud spanned an area of roughly 990,000 square
kilometers (382,240 square miles), as measured with the tools available
on the NASA Worldview App—an area only slightly smaller than the
country of Egypt. By June 12, the clouded area expanded dramatically to
cover more than 2,500,000 square kilometers (965,2500 square miles) of
South America, hugging the eastern side of the Andes Mountains in the
west and reaching across Argentina and Paraguay to reach the South
Atlantic Ocean. Once over the ocean, a band of cloud continued
southeast to reach Antarctica.

Wintertime in the lands east of the Andes, particularly the Gran Chaco,
can often bring cloud-filled skies and gusty winds. Despite the
impressive appearance, such clouds don’t always mean rain. Rain was not
reported in any of the major cities underneath the clouds on June 11 or
12.

The tall peaks of the Andes Mountains act as a barrier to the western
movement of clouds and precipitation, which is why clouds pile up over
the eastern slope while the sky over the higher elevations and west of
the Andes are clear. While the Gran Chaco is considered a hot,
semi-arid lowland, the southern portion of the high plateau (Altiplano)
visible in this image is cold and dry, especially in winter. The
world’s largest and highest salt flat, the Salar de Uyuni receives less
than 5 inches (127 mm) of rain each year, with almost all of that
falling between December and April.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 6/11/2023
Resolutions: 1km (1.2 MB), 500m (3.7 MB), 250m (2.7 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2023-06-13

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