Lake Yamma Yamma, Western Queensland

Date Captured: 5/10/16

This false colour Landsat 8 image shows water entering Lake Yamma Yamma, an offshoot of Cooper Creek in Western Queensland. The floodwater can be seen as concentric areas of decreasing depth, with deeper dark blue waters grading into the shallower aqua blue areas in the north-east area of the lake. The dark lavender area to the south-west of the aqua blue area shows the damp lake floor, where it has dried back from the previous extent of the flood. Other similar darker areas around the edge of the lake indicate minor outflows into the lake and accompanying wetting and drying of the surface.

Claypans amongst the sand dunes and the channels of Cooper Creek itself are also filled with water, seen as dark blue and aqua blue features, depending on their depth. The floodwaters are the result of record-breaking rainfall in September 2016 and follow-up falls in early October. This rainfall has also promoted the vigorous growth of vegetation, seen as the bright green areas around Cooper Creek and the edge of the lake.

Technical details

This Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) image was captured at 10:31am on 5 October 2016. It is displayed with spectral bands 6 (short wave infrared 1), 5 (near infrared), and 3 (visible green). The image was supplied by the United States Geological Survey and processed by the Queensland Government’s Remote Sensing Centre.

SOURCE: www.qld.gov.au