Earth from Space - Image Description

STS051-076-093 Gregory Lake, Western Australia, Australia September 1993
Lake Gregory, the main body of the lake appears bluish-turquoise in the center of the picture, is a saline, inland drainage lake which has a fairly regular inflow of water. This drainage feature is located in northeastern Western Australia between the Great Sandy Desert and the Tanami Desert. The lake is considered to be a permanent lake and as such serves as a major migratory stop-over area for a variety of shorebirds. The lake also provides a major breeding habitat of several species of water birds, including cormorants and terns. The multi-braided channels (upper right) that feed water into Lake Gregory from the northeast is part of the Sturt Creek drainage system. There appears to be an excess of standing water in the channels (muddy-looking, yellowish) north and west of the main part of the lake. The surrounding landscape is one of grasslands with numerous sand ridges (thin, dark, paralleling lines on the left side of the image) visible.

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