File:Southern South Australia, Australia (MODIS 2021-09-21).jpg

English: The ochre outback of the state of South Australia ranks as some of the most arid areas in Australia. The red landscape, rugged folded mountains, and mineral-crusted salt lakes all illustrate a parched environment. Only about one-tenth of the state registered annual precipitation of 10 inches (250 mm) or greater in an average year. Less than one-half of the state—and mostly around the coast—see 16 inches (400 mm) of precipitation or more annually. The rainiest time of year for the southern section of the state is in July and August.

On September 11, 2021, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a stunning true-color image of South Australia. While the majority of the landscape wears the ochre and red of a very arid region, a swath of vegetation (green) lies near Spencer Gulf along the southern coast. Tints of green also appear in the folds of the Flinders Range, the mountains that lie between Lake Frome (east) and Lake Torrens (west). The lakes appear nearly bone-dry, but a slight touch of green tinting the mineral crust in parts of each lakes suggest that some water underlies the salt.

The abundance of green near the coast and the tints of green further inland all suggest that the 2021 rainy season has brought somewhat robust precipitation to the region—at least enough to spur the growth of plants and moisten the often-parched salt lakes. According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, for the week ending on August 30, 5 mm (0.2 in) of rain had fallen across the area that included the lakes and mountains, and this amount increased going southward. As much as 25 mm (1 in) was recorded in a narrow band across the far southern coast during that week.