Earth from Space - Image Description

STS043-151-294 Simpson Desert, South Australia, Australia August 1991
A small part of the massive interior drainage pattern that prevails throughout most of the central part of the Australian continent can be seen in this synoptic view of northeast South Australia. The general drainage through this section of the Simpson Desert is from the northeast to the southwest. Drainage in this picture can be traced from the Diamantina River which is the dark line slightly left of the top center of the image. The river enters the Goyder Lagoon (the broad, elongated dark area, upper middle). Southwest of the Goyder Lagoon, the Warburton River continues the southwesterly drainage journey to Lake Eyre (visible at bottom right). The Sturt Stony Desert appears to separate the Diamantina-Warburton drainage system from another drainage basin to the southeast. The linear, narrow, lighter colored features north of the Warburton River and Lake Eyre are numerous dry lake beds, generally oriented in a north-south alignment.

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