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August 22, 2025 - Lake Wilkinkarra-MacKay
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Lake Wilkinkarra-MacKay gleams bright white on a stark background of desert red in this true-color image acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite on August 20, 2025.
Sitting on the border between the Australian states of Western Australia and Northern Territories, the mineral-encrusted lake is the largest salt lake in Western Australia and the fourth largest in Australia.
Wilkinkarra-MacKay is an ephemeral lake which fills with water only after heavy and prolonged rainfall. An “inundation event”, defined as the lake being 20 percent filled with water, has occurred only 58 times over the last 33 years. These events were typically less than a month in duration, according to a 2024 report by the Western Australian Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The flooding events bring hordes of waterbird species to the lake as well as providing breeding habitat for various species, including the banded stilt. Lake Wilkinkarra-MacKay is also home to species that are considered threatened, including a long-eared rabbit called the greater bilby, the great desert skink, which is a social and burrowing lizard, and the critically endangered night parrot.
A proposal to mine sulphate of potash from Lake Wilkinkarra-MacKay is currently under study. The proposed project has the potential to result in significant impacts to the night parrot, greater bilby, and great desert skink as a result of habitat loss and potential for habitat fragmentation. The project may also adversely affect migratory and breeding birdlife.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 8/20/2025
Resolutions:
1km (45 KB), 500m (108.7 KB), 250m (223.6 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Lake Wilkinkarra-MacKay gleams bright white on a stark background of desert red in this true-color image acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite on August 20, 2025.
Sitting on the border between the Australian states of Western Australia and Northern Territories, the mineral-encrusted lake is the largest salt lake in Western Australia and the fourth largest in Australia. Wilkinkarra-MacKay is an ephemeral lake which fills with water only after heavy and prolonged rainfall. An “inundation event”, defined as the lake being 20 percent filled with water, has occurred only 58 times over the last 33 years. These events were typically less than a month in duration, according to a 2024 report by the Western Australian Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The flooding events bring hordes of waterbird species to the lake as well as providing breeding habitat for various species, including the banded stilt. Lake Wilkinkarra-MacKay is also home to species that are considered threatened, including a long-eared rabbit called the greater bilby, the great desert skink, which is a social and burrowing lizard, and the critically endangered night parrot.
A proposal to mine sulphate of potash from Lake Wilkinkarra-MacKay is currently under study. The proposed project has the potential to result in significant impacts to the night parrot, greater bilby, and great desert skink as a result of habitat loss and potential for habitat fragmentation. The project may also adversely affect migratory and breeding birdlife.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 8/20/2025
Resolutions:
1km (45 KB), 500m (108.7 KB), 250m (223.6 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
