Hydrology

MODIS image from May 29, 2002 showing Finland and its many lakes in the middle of the satellite image. Source: NASA, public domain.

Why Does Finland Have So Many Lakes?

May 17, 2021December 5, 2014 by Elizabeth Borneman

Finland, with over 187,000 estimated lakes, is known as the “Land of a Thousand Lakes”.

The USGS streamgage on the Neches River at Beaumont, TX, showing the period when Hurricane Ike came ashore in 2008. The line shows the flow rate, and once it passes below zero, that shows the river has reversed flow. Source: USGS, public domain

Rivers that Flow Backwards

July 13, 2023November 24, 2014 by Elizabeth Borneman

Read about how the Amazon once flowed east to west and how the strength of Hurricane Isaac once change the course of the Mississippi river.

A satellite image showing Lake Titicaca, which straddles the border of Peru and Bolivia with the Andes Mountains to the top right. Source: NASA

Lake Extremes

May 20, 2021October 13, 2014 by Caitlin Dempsey

What are the world’s largest freshwater lake, the world’s largest saltwater lake, the world’s deepest freshwater lake, the highest navigable lake, and the saltiest lake?

NASA’s Terra satellite image of the Great Lakes. Acquired: September 26, 2014. Source: NASA.

How Many Lakes are There in the World?

August 1, 2022October 1, 2014 by Caitlin Dempsey

Researchers have used remote sensing to calculate the number of lakes in the world.

Aral Sea Continues to Shrink

June 29, 2020September 26, 2014 by Caitlin Dempsey

Once the fourth-largest inland water body in the world, the Aral Sea shrank again in 2013