May 16, 2021 - Color off the Coast of Australia

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   Western Australia
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   A swirling halo of blue surrounded the coastline of northwestern and
   northern Australia in mid-May 2021. This gorgeous true-color image was
   acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)
   on board NASA’s Aqua satellite on May 13.

   The rugged landscape of Australia’s northern section of Northern
   Territory makes up roughly the eastern two-thirds of the image, while
   the northern tip of Western Australia sits in the west. Both regions
   are colored in bold rust tones, tans, and washed with green. In
   contrast to the rich Earth-tones found inland, stunning shades of blue,
   turquoise, greens, and tan hug the shoreline. These jewel-toned colors
   swept into the deep blue waters of the Indian Ocean by strong currents
   found just offshore.

   Some of the coastal color comes from sediment, such as the muddy-brown
   stain in the King Sound, which is found along the southwestern
   coastline of Western Australian in this image. The dirt-colored smudge
   in the water is caused by mud stirred up by the strong tides in shallow
   Sound. It is also from sediment carried into the Sound by the Fitzroy,
   one of Australia’s largest rivers.

   When sediment floats near the surface, it appears mud-colored; however,
   as it sinks the reflective properties change, so sunken sediment
   appears green or blue from space. This change in color can be seen in
   King Sound, both at the edge of the sediment plume where the color
   changes from tan to green and further from shore, where the water of
   the Sound takes on a turquoise tint.

   While some of the color surrounding the Australian coast may come from
   sediment, most of the shining stain most likely comes from large blooms
   of phytoplankton. These floating, microscopic, plant-like organisms
   carry pigment that, when massed together in large “blooms”, can easily
   be seen from space. For the most part, phytoplankton float near the
   surface of the ocean and float wherever currents take them. Because of
   this, phytoplankton can sometimes be used to reveal the flow of
   currents in the ocean.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Aqua
   Date Acquired: 5/13/2021
   Resolutions:  1km (471 KB),  500m (1.2 MB),  250m (679.4 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=2021-05-16
 
