March 22, 2023 - Water receedes on the Darling River
[image03222023_rollover.jpg] [image03222023_main.jpg]
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In 2022, New South Wales suffered both a wet spring and an
exceptionally soggy winter, creating widespread flooding, especially in
the Murray and Darling Rivers. According to Australia’s ABC News, more
than 200 kilometers (124 miles) of the Darling River had burst its
banks since the middle of 2022, bringing flood levels not since 1976.
By March 2023, the floodwaters along the Darling River have finally
begun to recede.
Today’s Image of the Day shows a comparison of two false-color images
acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)
on board NASA’s Terra satellite. The first was acquired on January 17,
2023, when the Darling River remained in heavily flood stage. In the
second, acquired on March 18, 2023, the water in the Darling has
returned to nearly normal, except for some large pockets of water along
the river’s course. In this type of false-color image, water appears
dark blue, vegetation bright green, and open land is tan.
Flood-and-drought cycles are common along the Darling. As recently as
2019, drought reduced the river to such low levels that hundreds of
fish died. Now, after a good water year in 2021 and exceptional floods
in 2022, fish populations are on the rise, especially the invasive carp
species that lives in the river channel. As the river begins to slowly
return to its bank, it is likely that many of the carp will get trapped
on land and perish—creating a stench at first, but ultimately enriching
the soils.
Much of the floodplains along the Darling are used for agriculture,
such as croplands or pasture. In dry years, high air temperature and
low soil moisture can make for scrubby pasture and low crop yields.
This year, farmers are have reason to be hopeful of bumper crops and
rich pasture, thanks to the moisture brought by the floods.
Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 3/18/2023
Resolutions: 1km (150.6 KB), 500m (369 KB), 250m (207.6 KB)
Bands Used: 7,2,1
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2023-03-22
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