Southeast Australia’s Gippsland region was experiencing its worst floods in 17 years when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured the top image on June 30, 2007. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) News, the floods forced more than 230 people from their homes in this predominantly rural region.
Though water can sometimes be difficult to see in photo-like images, sediment-thick run-off has turned the water a muddy red-brown that stands out clearly against the lush green landscape. Both Lake Wellington and Lake Victoria are filled with the muddy flood water. In the lower image, taken before the rain started, the lakes match forested land to their north and west in coloring. The two rivers that flow into Lake Wellington also appear to be flooded, but the red-brown may also be residual mud on the rivers’ banks; ABC News reported that the floods had already started to subside on June 30. The full extent of the flooding can be seen by comparing the false-color version of the June 30 and June 10 images on the MODIS Rapid Response web site. In the false-color images, water is black against the green, vegetated land.
NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC.
