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December 11, 2023 - Toshka Lakes
December 6, 2023
December 6, 2019
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Egypt’s Toshka Lakes sit in natural depressions found in the vast, arid sands of the Sahara Desert. They were created in the 1980s and 1990 through diversion of water from Lake Nasser, a massive 340-mile-long (550-km) reservoir built on the Nile River between 1958 and 1970. As the depressions were flooded, four major lakes appeared in desert sands.
Since they were created, the lakes have been dependent on overflow from Lake Nasser, with water levels rising in years of heavy rain and shrinking in years of drought. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired two true-color images, one on December 6, 2023, and one on December 6, 2019, that illustrate wide fluctuations in the Tosha Lakes. Each image can be viewed by clicking on the dates.
In early 2019, lack of rainfall had nearly dried up the Toshka Lakes, leaving parched marks in the sand where the lakes had once glittered with blue water. Abundant summer rainfall, especially in Sudan and South Sudan (south and upstream of Egypt) began to fall in that same year. The heavy rain filled the Nile which, in turn, raised water levels in Lake Nasser. Outflow from Lake Nasser began to regenerate the eastern portion of the Toshka lakes. This was the situation on December 6, 2019, and the image shows the newly-filled eastern lake while the others remain parched.
Beginning in 2020, record-breaking floods drenched Sudan in 2020. That year, the water level in Lake Nasser reached a record high. Flooding has occurred in Sudan and South Sudan every summer since 2019, resulting in serious difficulties for agriculture, livestock, and people living in the region, as well as increasing overflow from Lake Nassar that feeds the Toshka Lakes. The water level in Lake Nassar reached another record high after the 2022 floods.
In 2023, floods began in September, initially destroying thousands of houses and damaging hundreds more. Additional flooding in late October caused the displacement of more than 1,000 people and killed at least ten people, according to ReliefWeb.
The image acquired on December 6, 2023, shows the impact of the multiple years of flooding on the Toska Lakes. Not only are the original four lakes completely full, but new, smaller lakes have formed by filling depressions around the four lakes. Irrigated agricultural fields are visible between Lake Nasser (lower right) and the Toshka Lakes.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 12/26/2023
Resolutions:
1km (60.4 KB), 500m (129.2 KB), 250m (73.2 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
December 6, 2023 December 6, 2019
Egypt’s Toshka Lakes sit in natural depressions found in the vast, arid sands of the Sahara Desert. They were created in the 1980s and 1990 through diversion of water from Lake Nasser, a massive 340-mile-long (550-km) reservoir built on the Nile River between 1958 and 1970. As the depressions were flooded, four major lakes appeared in desert sands.
Since they were created, the lakes have been dependent on overflow from Lake Nasser, with water levels rising in years of heavy rain and shrinking in years of drought. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired two true-color images, one on December 6, 2023, and one on December 6, 2019, that illustrate wide fluctuations in the Tosha Lakes. Each image can be viewed by clicking on the dates.
In early 2019, lack of rainfall had nearly dried up the Toshka Lakes, leaving parched marks in the sand where the lakes had once glittered with blue water. Abundant summer rainfall, especially in Sudan and South Sudan (south and upstream of Egypt) began to fall in that same year. The heavy rain filled the Nile which, in turn, raised water levels in Lake Nasser. Outflow from Lake Nasser began to regenerate the eastern portion of the Toshka lakes. This was the situation on December 6, 2019, and the image shows the newly-filled eastern lake while the others remain parched.
Beginning in 2020, record-breaking floods drenched Sudan in 2020. That year, the water level in Lake Nasser reached a record high. Flooding has occurred in Sudan and South Sudan every summer since 2019, resulting in serious difficulties for agriculture, livestock, and people living in the region, as well as increasing overflow from Lake Nassar that feeds the Toshka Lakes. The water level in Lake Nassar reached another record high after the 2022 floods.
In 2023, floods began in September, initially destroying thousands of houses and damaging hundreds more. Additional flooding in late October caused the displacement of more than 1,000 people and killed at least ten people, according to ReliefWeb.
The image acquired on December 6, 2023, shows the impact of the multiple years of flooding on the Toska Lakes. Not only are the original four lakes completely full, but new, smaller lakes have formed by filling depressions around the four lakes. Irrigated agricultural fields are visible between Lake Nasser (lower right) and the Toshka Lakes.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 12/26/2023
Resolutions:
1km (60.4 KB), 500m (129.2 KB), 250m (73.2 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
