Flooding in Western Australia - related image preview

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Flooding in Western Australia

Though Cyclone Clare caused little damage when it initially came ashore over northwestern Australia on January 10, 2006, it triggered widespread flooding as it moved south across Western Australia. The floods forced the government to declare disaster areas in at least three communities in southwestern Australia. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured the image that displays when you first open this page; it shows flooding in the typically dry Murchison River basin on January 15, 2006. The river is the second longest in Western Australia, but water normally only flows in it during the summer cyclone season. The rest of the year, the river is a dry sand channel as shown in the image that displays when you place your mouse over the first image; it was taken by Aqua MODIS on December 26, 2005. The communities most affected by the flooding are south of the area shown in these images.


Jeff Schmaltz

Published January 19, 2006
Data acquired January 15, 2006

Source:
Aqua > MODIS
Collection:
MODIS Image of the Day