September 21, 2021 - Southern South Australia, Australia
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South Australia
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The ochre outback of the state of South Australia ranks as some of the
most arid areas in Australia. The red landscape, rugged folded
mountains, and mineral-crusted salt lakes all illustrate a parched
environment. Only about one-tenth of the state registered annual
precipitation of 10 inches (250 mm) or greater in an average year. Less
than one-half of the state—and mostly around the coast—see 16 inches
(400 mm) of precipitation or more annually. The rainiest time of year
for the southern section of the state is in July and August.
On September 11, 2021, the Moderate Resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a
stunning true-color image of South Australia. While the majority of the
landscape wears the ochre and red of a very arid region, a swath of
vegetation (green) lies near Spencer Gulf along the southern coast.
Tints of green also appear in the folds of the Flinders Range, the
mountains that lie between Lake Frome (east) and Lake Torrens (west).
The lakes appear nearly bone-dry, but a slight touch of green tinting
the mineral crust in parts of each lakes suggest that some water
underlies the salt.
The abundance of green near the coast and the tints of green further
inland all suggest that the 2021 rainy season has brought somewhat
robust precipitation to the region—at least enough to spur the growth
of plants and moisten the often-parched salt lakes. According to the
Australian Bureau of Meteorology, for the week ending on August 30, 5
mm (0.2 in) of rain had fallen across the area that included the lakes
and mountains, and this amount increased going southward. As much as 25
mm (1 in) was recorded in a narrow band across the far southern coast
during that week.
Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 9/11/2021
Resolutions: 1km (260.2 KB), 500m (728.8 KB), 250m (1.9 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=2021-09-21
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