The Darling River flows roughly southwest across the Australian state of New South Wales, and in March 2012, the river flooded. On March 14, the State Emergency Service reported major flooding at Louth and warned of an expected floodwater peak at Tilpa over the coming days. Floods were receding, however, at Bourke. (Photo:NASA)

The Darling River flows roughly southwest across the Australian state of New South Wales, and in March 2012, the river flooded. On March 14, the State Emergency Service reported major flooding at Louth and warned of an expected floodwater peak at Tilpa over the coming days. Floods were receding, however, at Bourke.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite captured the top image on March 23, 2012. For comparison, the bottom image shows the same region a year earlier, on March 26, 2011. These images use a combination of visible and infrared light to better distinguish between water and land. Water varies from electric blue to navy. Vegetation is bright green. Bare ground is earth-toned. Clouds are nearly white and cast shadows.

The difference in water levels along the Darling River between March 2011 and March 2012 are stark. In February and March 2012, flooding affected large parts of southeastern Australia. Drought affected the same general region from 1997 to 2011.

Source: NASA Earth Observatory