As in past years, summer rains in Queensland have fueled a surge of water that is flowing through rivers in Channel Country. After rains swamped parts of the state in February, Tropical Cyclone Esther piled on even more water, dropping another round of intense rain in early March. According to news reports, some of the state’s rivers are on the verge of reaching their highest levels in a decade.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this false-color image on March 12, 2020, as water flowed through several rivers—including the Diamantina and Cooper’s Creek—toward Lake Eyre. The image makes use of a combination of visible and infrared light (bands 7-2-1) to make it easier to distinguish between land, water, and vegetation. With this band combination, water appears light blue and vegetation is green.
References & Resources
- Australian Associated Press (2020, March 10) Qld rivers reach highest levels in decade. Accessed March 13, 2020.
- Australian Bureau of Meteorology (2020, March 3) Ex-tropical cyclone Esther. Accessed March 13, 2020.
- Canberra Times (2020, March 10) Flood watch soon for Cape York to Mackay. Accessed March 13, 2020.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS/LANCE and GIBS/Worldview. Text by Adam Voiland.
