MSGID: 1:317/3 6328ae4d   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   September 19, 2022 - South Australia   
      
      South Australia   
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      Outside of Antarctica, Australia is the driest continent on Earth—and   
      South Australia is Australia’s driest state. Roughly twenty percent of   
      the state receives more than 10 inches (250 mm) in a year and less than   
      ten percent receives more than 16 inches (400 mm). The aridity is so   
      extreme, it becomes obvious even in satellite images, with the dry,   
      dusty, red-soiled interior giving way to a fringe of green vegetation   
      near the coast, where rain is relatively abundant.   
      
      On September 15, 2022, the Moderate Resolution Imaging   
      Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a   
      true-color image of a sunny day in South Australia.   
      
      The dominant colors in this image are tans and ochre tones, testimony   
      to a dry region with sparse vegetation. Bright, almost startling, white   
      and gray swaths and patches mark ephemeral lakes, which remain dry and   
      encrusted with salt and other minerals most of the time, but can fill   
      with water when the rare abundant rain falls. The large salt-encrusted   
      lakes, from west to east, are Lake Gairdner, Island Lagoon, and Lake   
      Torrens, and Lake Frome.   
      
      Lying between Lake Torrens and Lake Frome, the large patch of green,   
      brown, and black marks the Flinders Ranges, the largest mountain system   
      in Australia. It’s a classic example of a “folded mountain range”—a   
      type of mountain formed when tectonic plates collide, folding and   
      pushing layers of land into mountain ranges. Although the Flinders   
      Ranges is semi-arid at best, vegetation such as cypress pine and black   
      oak have adapted to the environment and grow abundantly in some parts   
      of the mountains.   
      
      The truly lush vegetation sits in the south, near the coastline, where   
      annual rainfall is relatively abundant. Most of the population of South   
      Australia live in the green belt of the state near the blue waters of   
      the Great Australian Bight. This area is also the heartland of South   
      Australian agriculture, where most of the crops such as wheat and   
      barley are grown and livestock such as swine and poultry are   
      concentrated. Some crops are grown inland, but usually depend on   
      irrigation. Some livestock, such as cattle, also are raised in the   
      interior.   
      
      The wedge of blue at the far south of this image is Spencer Gulf, an   
      indentation off the Great Australian Bight. One of its claims to fame   
      is that each winter it attracts the worlds largest congregation of   
      Australian giant cuttlefish. These curious creatures, which can grow   
      over 3 feet (1 meter) long, cluster in Spencer Gulf each winter to   
      spawn.   
      
      Image Facts   
      Satellite:  Terra   
      Date Acquired: 9/15/2022   
      Resolutions:  1km (213.8 KB),  500m (525.7 KB),  250m (297.3   
      KB)   
      Bands Used: 1,4,3   
      Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC   
      
      
      
   https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2022-09-19   
       
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