Seeing Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre filling with water is like witnessing the lifeblood of Australia returning to the country’s heart, and that rare spectacle is happening this month.

Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre is a vast ephemeral lake that lies in the far north of South Australia. This means it only fills following substantial rain in the Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre Basin, which extends 1.2 million square kilometres across parts of four states and territories.

Image: The Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre Basin. Source: Kmusser via Wikimedia Commons

Floodwaters flowing south from Queensland, caused by water dumped earlier this year, has been filling Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre since March. This injection of floodwater has started to transform the lake over the last few weeks, with two broad tongues of surface water now extending from north to south.

The captivating sight of Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre filling has been captured in images from satellites and aeroplanes in the past week.

The photos and video below were taken during a morning flight above Lake Eyre North earlier this week.

Images and video: Lake Eyre North in early April 2024. Credit: @cam_fry_ / Instagram

The stunning sight of Australia’s largest lake starting to fill has also been captured in high-resolution satellite images over the past few weeks.

Images: Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre from the Sentinel-2 satellite on March 17 (top) and April 11 (bottom), 2024. Source: Sentinel Hub

The lake is likely to fill further over the coming weeks as more water from recent rainfall flows in from the north. A flood warning is in place for inland rivers in SA and parts of western Qld.