April 10, 2022 - Gulf of Carpenteria

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Aqua and turquoise colored the blue waters in the Gulf of Carpentaria
on April 8, 2022, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this
true-color image. The widespread color are a combination of sediment
and phytoplankton.

South of the Arafura Sea, the Gulf of Carpentaria is a large, shallow
sea snuggled between the eastern coast of Northern Territory and the
northwestern coast of Queensland, Australia. Fifteen rivers pour fresh
water into the saline Gulf waters—and along with the river water comes
copious sediment, especially at the end of the rainy season. When
sediment sits near the surface, it appears tan, but as it sinks under
the water the reflective properties of sediment change, and so does the
color, as viewed from space, changing to green and then blue. Sediment
and river run-off also carries nutrients into the Gulf, which can spur
a bloom of phytoplankton. Phytoplankton are microscopic plant-like,
chlorophyll-containing organisms that exist in these waters year-round
in small numbers. When favorable water temperature, appropriate
daylight length, and abundant nutrients combine, phytoplankton can
reproduce explosively, creating massive blooms that can be easily seen
from space. It is likely that the color near shore is predominantly
from sediment while most of the color further away from shore is more
likely from phytoplankton.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 4/8/2022
Resolutions: 1km (54.5 KB), 500m (137.1 KB), 250m (377.3
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=2022-04-10

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