Earth from Space - Image Description

STS51B-035-0096 Great Salt Lake, Great Salt Lake Desert, Utah, U.S.A. May 1985
The Great Salt Lake, the largest inland body of saltwater in the Western Hemisphere, is featured in this northeast-looking, low-oblique photograph. Visible are a railroad causeway separating the two halves of the lake, the white former floor of prehistoric Lake Bonneville spanning more than half of the photograph, scattered clouds, and snow at the higher elevations of the Wasatch Range. The lake's water level varies seasonally and yearly. This photograph shows water levels higher than normal (see STS-074-111-018 from November 1995 to detect a difference in water level). Color variation in the lake is caused by higher concentrations of salt in the northern portion.

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