OBSERVATION / 007

The lake that changed its mind.

Landsat view of pink Lonar Lake, enclosed by a green crater rim within a patchwork of fields in India.

NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin · Landsat / USGS

Location: Lonar Lake / India
Image acquired: June 10, 2020
Platform / instrument: Landsat 8 / OLI
Image type: Satellite image

Field notes

A pink lake sits inside a green crater rim in Maharashtra. This June 2020 Landsat image records a rapid color shift: an earlier view from May showed the water looking green.

NASA’s account at the time treated the cause as unresolved, discussing salt-loving microorganisms and changing salinity as possible explanations. The crater itself is an impact structure in the basalt of the Deccan Plateau. The photograph captures a temporary appearance, rather than the lake’s permanent color.

Read NASA’s full account ↗

This is dated source imagery. The homepage overlay is a graphic treatment, not a georeferenced measurement.