December 23, 2021 - Sediment-filled waters of Lagoa dos Patos, Brazil
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Sediment swirled in the shallow water of Lagoa dos Patos in
mid-December 2021. The tan stains are created from a combination of a
shallow, muddy bottom, heavy inflow from rivers during the wet season,
and the action of wind on the surface of the lagoon. The Moderate
Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua
satellite acquired a true-color image of this stunning Brazilian
ecosystem on December 20, which was the last day of spring and several
weeks into the start of the region’s wet season.
Measuring about 155 miles (250 km) long and covering about 4,000 square
miles (10,360 sq. km), Lagoa dos Patos is the world’s largest choked
lagoon. This type of lagoon has only a narrow channel opening to the
sea, which significantly obstructs tides from entering the lagoon and
also makes mixing of saline ocean waters and inland freshwater. Rather
than being open to the Atlantic Ocean, fresh water pours into the
lagoon from rivers in the northwest section. This means most of the
lagoon’s waters are fresh or just barely saline. However, in the south
near a small inlet that communicates with the Atlantic Ocean, the
waters are more saline, creating a microtidal estuary. The salinity of
the lagoon’s waters varies in this small estuary, based on both the
inflow of fresh river water (highest in the wet season) and the inflow
of ocean water (driven by tides and wind).
Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 12/20/2021
Resolutions: 1km (140.6 KB), 500m (377.7 KB), 250m (1 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2021-12-23
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