Satellite Imagery Reveals Lake Carnegie’s Eerie Transformation After Rainfall in Remote Australia

In an unusual display fitting for the Halloween season, Lake Carnegie in Australia has been captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite, showcasing its eerie shape from orbit. Situated at the southern edge of the Gibson Desert within the Shire of Wiluna, this ephemeral lake is around 900 kilometers northeast of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia.

This vast body of water only comes alive following significant rainfall, which is quite uncommon in this arid landscape. When at its peak, Lake Carnegie spans approximately 5,700 square kilometers, ranking among the largest lakes in the country. During drier periods, it diminishes into a muddy marshland. Recently, heavy precipitation in Western Australia illuminated the lake’s spectral ‘face’ from above, capturing attention as the imagery revealed the stark contrast between water and surrounding earth.

The captured images offer a fascinating glimpse into the region’s characteristics. The first image displays the lake in natural colors, akin to what a human observer might see. In contrast, the second image applies a multispectral analysis that produces a striking false-color effect. This manipulation, which utilizes three different spectral bands, brings specific features to life—rendering water in deep blue tones that delineate the lake’s edges more sharply and revealing patterns of inundation across the landscape.

The altered imagery not only emphasizes the lake’s boundaries but also distinguishes the southeastern portions where swamps and channels emerge, more visibly than in the standard view. While the surrounding area is sparsely populated, with only about a dozen residents, Lake Carnegie serves as an important ecosystem, hosting numerous bird species and offering essential breeding grounds. Remarkably, this region is also considered a habitat for the cryptic and endangered night parrot, a species that had been presumed extinct for a century.

Lake Carnegie and its surroundings fall under the protection of the Matuwa Kurrara Kurrara National Park and nature reserve, an initiative aimed at preserving the rich biodiversity and the cultural heritage of the Aboriginal communities connected to this significant landscape.