The European Space Agency's Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission captured the colorful waters of two saltwater lakes in East Africa: Lake Natron in northern Tanzania and Lake Magadi in southern Kenya. Lake Natron, seen at the bottom of the image, is a large lake 56 kilometers (35 miles) long. The lake is very shallow, only 3 meters (10 feet) deep, but its depth varies throughout the year.
The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission captured the vivid colors of Lake Natron and Magadi in East Africa, highlighting their unique ecological and geological features. The satellite's advanced imaging technology reveals the dynamic environment of these lakes, aiding environmental monitoring efforts in the Copernicus programme. Image source: Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2023), processed by ESA, CCBY-SA3.0IGO
Despite the area's scorching temperatures and high salt content, the lake basin is designated a Ramsar site of international importance. This is the only regular breeding site for lesser flamingos in East Africa. As many as 2.5 million flamingos can gather on the lake, and it is also home to thousands of other species of water birds.
The smaller Lake Magadi sits at the top of the center, nestled in a huge depression in an area of volcanic rock. No permanent rivers enter the lake, only surface runoff when it rains provides water. Like Lake Natron, Lake Magadi has a high salt content, with salt layers up to 40 meters (130 feet) thick in some places. Trona is used in glass making, fabric dyeing and paper making.
This image was taken on February 12, 2023, during the brief dry season, followed by the main rainy season starting in March. Both lakes naturally appear red or pink due to algae growing in the salt, especially during the dry season when the lake water evaporates and the salt becomes more concentrated. However, the color here is due to the addition of Sentinel-2's near-infrared channel in the image processing, which helps reveal different information than natural color images (see image below).
The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission took us over two salt lakes in East Africa: the larger Lake Natron in northern Tanzania and the smaller Lake Magadi on the border with Kenya. This picture was taken on February 3, 2019. Image source: Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2019), processed by ESA, CCBY-SA3.0IGO
Rich reds highlight areas of vegetation and dominate this false-color image, while the lake's seasonal algae blooms appear green. The bright white and blue areas along the coast depict a mixture of sand, salt and mudflats. Salt crusts caused by evaporation at high temperatures appear as white spots in waters.
Sentinel-2 is a dual-satellite mission providing the coverage and data transmission needed for Europe's Copernicus programme. The mission's frequent revisits of the same areas and high spatial resolution allow it to measure changes in the conditions of inland water bodies - one of the mission's main applications along with land cover, agriculture and forestry.