In the wake of Tropical Cyclone Larry, which plowed across Queensland the previous week, widespread flooding was affecting the region around the Gulf of Carpentaria on March 27, 2006. In this pair of false-color images, vegetation is green, naturally bare (or sparsely vegetated) ground is tan, and water is blue. Many rivers and streams that drain into the Gulf are swollen with flood water in the March 27 image, whereas on March 1, only dry riverbeds dissect the landscape. The large river system in the center of the scene is the Leichhardt River system, which according to an article on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Website, was so flooded that sharks were seen far inland of their normal location.
NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team.
