The View from Above

The images provided by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) aboard NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites are always spectacular and frequently provide some great perspectives on atmospheric, land, and lake processes over northern Utah.  

Yesterday's Aqua overpass below tells us quite a bit about the Great Salt Lake.  Note it's limited area, with just a thin sliver of water in Farmington Bay east of Antelope Island and no water at all in most of the Bear River Bay, with the exception of diked and reservoir areas like Willard Bay.  Extensive grey areas, indicative of playa, surround the Great Salt Lake and are consistent with it's low elevation.  You can also see a large evaporative pond just to the east of Stansbury Island and the contrast in color between the northern and southern half of the lake, which is divided by an earth railroad causeway that runs westward from Promontory Point.  With the lake at a relatively low level historically, it is surrounded by extensive grey playa, that helps to illustrate the area of the lake at high-water stands.  

Source: NASA

Also of interest is smoke from the Patch Springs Fire, which extends northward from the western base of the Stansbury Mountains to over the southern Great Salt Lake, comingling with cumulus clouds over  the Tooele Valley.   It has burned over 6,000 acres, with the fire perimeter outlined below.

Source: www.utahfireinfo.gov