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Laguna Pastos Grandes, Bolivia

Laguna Pastos Grandes is a shallow salt lake located in Bolivia’s Pastos Grandes volcanic caldera. Fed by intermittent rivers and springs, the lake contains high concentrations of lithium, potassium, and boron. These three images show how Landsat 8’s extended spectral capabilities can be used to highlight various surface features, often with vibrant results.



The left image uses the three visible bands from Landsat (red, green, and blue) to create a natural color representation. In this image, the ground features appear in colors very similar to what would be seen by the human eye. Non-vegetated ground is brown, and water appears dark. The bright areas indicate salt and other evaporated deposits in dry or very shallow areas of the lake.



Along with the visible wavelengths, Landsat 8’s extended spectral bands show additional details that cannot be seen by the human eye. The middle image uses two infrared bands that can be used to highlight the water bodies (red), salt and evaporated deposits (yellow, gold), and varying composition of other materials (green, tan) within the basin. The right image also uses infrared bands, but in a different combination which accentuates the salt and evaporated deposits (light blue) and the geologic features within the surrounding volcanic region (brown, green).



The many spectral bands available on Landsat provide an important set of tools for scientists, geologists, and others to study and map features on the Earth’s landscape. These features cannot always be seen by the human eye alone.

 

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