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April 3, 2026 - Rainy Season Fills Ntwetwe Pan
April 2, 2026
October 4, 2025
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Sitting near the center of southern Africa, far from cool ocean breezes, Botswana tends to receive little rainfall. Seasons are indistinct, with the most important division being between the rainy season, which usually starts in late October and lasts through early April, and the dry season. Temperatures usually soar at the end of the dry season and are only relieved when the rains begin once again. Life in the driest portions of Botswana, including the Kalahari Desert, cycles around the availability and abundance of water.
North of the extremely arid Kalahari Desert, which sweeps across the country, the water cycle profoundly affects the Ntwetwe Pan, the largest of the group of salt flats known as the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans. These ephemeral lakes hold water only during the rainy season and, at that time, are the center of abundant life. For example, the water-laden flats attract more than 165 species of birds, including the spectacular pink Great and Lesser Flamingo. However, by the end of the dry season, the Ntwetwe pan dwindles to simply a thick crust of minerals laying on parched ground.
On April 2, 2026, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this false-color image of the Makgadikgadi salt pans near the end of the rainy season. A second Terra MODIS false-color image of the same area was acquired on October 4, 2026, near the end of the dry season. To compare the two images, simply click on the dates.
In this type of false-color image, vegetation looks bright green, open land is tan, salt and minerals appear white, and water shows up as blue, with deeper water colored a deeper blue and very shallow water looking pale. In the April image, deep water fills Ntwetwe pan ( in the east) and water is also visible in the other shallow pans. This is in sharp contrast to the October image, when Ntwetwe holds scant, shallow water and heavy mineral crusts appear over most of the rest of the area.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 4/2/2026
Resolutions:
1km (86.1 KB), 500m (218.9 KB), 250m (239.8 KB)
Bands Used: 7,2,1
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
April 2, 2026 October 4, 2025
Sitting near the center of southern Africa, far from cool ocean breezes, Botswana tends to receive little rainfall. Seasons are indistinct, with the most important division being between the rainy season, which usually starts in late October and lasts through early April, and the dry season. Temperatures usually soar at the end of the dry season and are only relieved when the rains begin once again. Life in the driest portions of Botswana, including the Kalahari Desert, cycles around the availability and abundance of water.
North of the extremely arid Kalahari Desert, which sweeps across the country, the water cycle profoundly affects the Ntwetwe Pan, the largest of the group of salt flats known as the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans. These ephemeral lakes hold water only during the rainy season and, at that time, are the center of abundant life. For example, the water-laden flats attract more than 165 species of birds, including the spectacular pink Great and Lesser Flamingo. However, by the end of the dry season, the Ntwetwe pan dwindles to simply a thick crust of minerals laying on parched ground.
On April 2, 2026, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this false-color image of the Makgadikgadi salt pans near the end of the rainy season. A second Terra MODIS false-color image of the same area was acquired on October 4, 2026, near the end of the dry season. To compare the two images, simply click on the dates.
In this type of false-color image, vegetation looks bright green, open land is tan, salt and minerals appear white, and water shows up as blue, with deeper water colored a deeper blue and very shallow water looking pale. In the April image, deep water fills Ntwetwe pan ( in the east) and water is also visible in the other shallow pans. This is in sharp contrast to the October image, when Ntwetwe holds scant, shallow water and heavy mineral crusts appear over most of the rest of the area.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 4/2/2026
Resolutions:
1km (86.1 KB), 500m (218.9 KB), 250m (239.8 KB)
Bands Used: 7,2,1
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
