Images
June 16, 2025 - Great Salt Lake
Tweet
On June 9, 2025, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this dramatic true-color image of Utah’s Great Salt Lake.
The startlingly bi-colored Great Salt Lake is the largest saline lake in the Western Hemisphere and Utah’s most iconic natural feature. It is a remnant of Lake Bonneville, a massive lake that covered much of Utah in ancient times.
A large area of bright white encircles the Great Salt Lake and another, massive area of white colors the desert west of the lake. This is a mineral-rich crust that remained behind as the water in Lake Bonneville (and the Great Salt Lake) evaporated. Today, a super-smooth section of the crust west of the Great Salt Lake is known as Bonneville Salt Flats. Measuring up to five feet thick, this tourist attraction provides a haven for auto speed enthusiasts. Several speed records have been set at the Bonneville Flats, including the one-time land speed record of 630 miles per hour (1,014 km/h) which was set in 1970. The current auto land speed record of 763.035 mph (1,227.985 km/h) was set in 1983 in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada.
The unique color of the Great Salt Lake is the result of a railroad causeway that divides the lake into two distinct sections. The northwest section largely has no water input from rivers and is saltier than the rest of the lake. The salt concentration causes different types of algae to grow compared to the southern portion and is a reason for the visible differences in color.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 6/9/2025
Resolutions:
1km (150.7 KB), 500m (425.1 KB), 250m (1.1 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
On June 9, 2025, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this dramatic true-color image of Utah’s Great Salt Lake.
The startlingly bi-colored Great Salt Lake is the largest saline lake in the Western Hemisphere and Utah’s most iconic natural feature. It is a remnant of Lake Bonneville, a massive lake that covered much of Utah in ancient times.
A large area of bright white encircles the Great Salt Lake and another, massive area of white colors the desert west of the lake. This is a mineral-rich crust that remained behind as the water in Lake Bonneville (and the Great Salt Lake) evaporated. Today, a super-smooth section of the crust west of the Great Salt Lake is known as Bonneville Salt Flats. Measuring up to five feet thick, this tourist attraction provides a haven for auto speed enthusiasts. Several speed records have been set at the Bonneville Flats, including the one-time land speed record of 630 miles per hour (1,014 km/h) which was set in 1970. The current auto land speed record of 763.035 mph (1,227.985 km/h) was set in 1983 in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada.
The unique color of the Great Salt Lake is the result of a railroad causeway that divides the lake into two distinct sections. The northwest section largely has no water input from rivers and is saltier than the rest of the lake. The salt concentration causes different types of algae to grow compared to the southern portion and is a reason for the visible differences in color.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 6/9/2025
Resolutions:
1km (150.7 KB), 500m (425.1 KB), 250m (1.1 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
