Floodwaters have been filling Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre over the past few weeks, putting on a spectacular show that can be seen from space.

Water from rain that fell over Qld earlier this year has been slowly flowing into Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre since March.

The movement of water through this vast ephemeral lake (meaning it only fills after substantial rain) is slow due to the flatness of the landscape in central Australia. This is why it took about one month for the water to travel 115 km across the north lake of Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre.

The satellite images below show the difference between March 17 and May 6, 2024. In mid-March, water was just starting to enter the northern part of Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre’s north lake. By early May, this tongue of water had spread more than 100 km through the huge lake towards Belt Bay.

Images: Enhanced satellite images showing Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre on March 17 and May 6, 2024. Source: SentinelHub

The time-lapse below shows the progression of floodwater through the lake over the five-week period ending on May 6, 2024.

Video: False-colour satellite images showing water flowing into Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre between April 1 and May 6, 2024.

Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre is also an endorheic lake, meaning water flows into it but does not flow out towards the ocean. Water can only leave endorheic lakes through evaporation or percolation (water sinking into the ground).

This flood event does not contain enough water to completely fill Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre and flows have already started diminishing in northern areas of the lake. Evaporation and percolation will gradually reduce the water level in Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre over the coming weeks, in the absence of any other significant inflows.