MSGID: 1:317/3 648a006a
PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08
TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08
June 14, 2023 - Colorful Van Diemen Gulf, Northern Territory, Australia

   Van Dieman
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   Gorgeous jewel-toned colors created a spectacular glow in the Van
   Diemen Gulf in June 2023. The Moderate Resolution Imaging
   Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a
   true-color image of the colorful Van Diemen Gulf on June 13. Similar
   colors tint the water north of the Tiwi Islands, especially the two
   main islands of Bathurst (west) and Melville (east). These islands sit
   so close together that they often look like a single, larger, island
   from above.

   Sometimes nicknamed “the bathtub”, in honor of it’s warm and shallow
   waters, the Van Diemen Gulf spans the waters of Australia’s Northern
   Territory between Melville Island, the Cobourg Peninsula, and the
   mainland coast. The large semi-enclosed embayment has a surface area of
   about 16,000 square kilometers (6,178 square miles) and is less than 20
   meters (66 feet) deep. It also has a large tidal range measuring around
   3 meters (9.8 feet) overall in the rainy season and even greater in the
   southeast end, near where the Alligator Rivers pour into the Gulf. The
   large change in height between low and high tides create strong tidal
   currents, which scour sediment off the Gulf’s floor and keep it
   suspended in the waters, especially during or shortly after the rainy
   season. This is the same time that sediment load in the numerous rivers
   that reach the Van Diemen Gulf is at their peak.

   The rainy season in western Top End typically begins in November and
   ends by mid-May. Given that waters are still high and rivers full in
   mid-June, the colors captured in Van Diemen Gulf in this image are
   almost certainly primarily from sediment. Sediment appears mud-colored
   near the surface but reflectivity changes as it sinks, so deeper
   sediment appears green and sometimes blue. Similar colors can be
   created by blooms of microscopic plant-like organisms called
   phytoplankton, but studies have shown that sediment concentrations can
   be high enough in the Gulf to suppress the growth of phytoplankton. The
   colors off of the Tiwi Islands are also likely primarily sediment, but
   conditions in the open water off the islands can also be favorable for
   phytoplankton growth.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Terra
   Date Acquired: 6/13/2023
   Resolutions:  1km (20.5 KB),  500m (71.3 KB),  250m (229.8 KB)
   Bands Used: 1,4,3
   Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2023-06-14
 
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