Earth from Space - Image Description

STS035-076-056 DeGrey River, Western Australia, Australia December 1990
Partial sunglint helps outline the northwest coastal region of Western Australia. The light-colored stream beds help to identify the confluence of the DeGrey and Shaw Rivers (slightly left of center) as the resultant DeGrey River flows northward into the Indian Ocean. The stream channels generally sustain flow only during the summer months when tropical thunderstorms rumble through this region. The two coastal lagoons near the top center of the image are evaporating ponds which are part of a salt mining operation based out of Port Hedland. (Refer to STS035-076-054 to see the adjacent scene west of this frame. Notice that the aqueduct that connects the two salt evaporating processing areas is more visible on the adjoining, overlapping frame.)

This service is provided by the International Space Station program and the JSC Earth Science & Remote Sensing Unit, ARES Division, Exploration Integration Science Directorate.