This image from MISR's nadir-looking camera was acquired on
July 11, 2000 (Terra orbit 3009) and shows a 200-kilometer section of the
eastern Australian coast, centered around the Sydney metropolitan area.
This city is host to the 2000 Olympic Games, which open Friday,
September 15. Sydney Harbour is the rugged-shaped inlet toward the
northern side of the grey-colored central city area. Olympic Park, the
main venue for the Games, is on a southern arm of the harbor, about
20 kilometers from the coast.
The areas to the north, west, and south of Sydney are characterized
by rugged terrain and extensive forests. Just north of the city the
Ku-ring-gai Chase and Brisbane Waters National Parks surround the
Hawkesbury River estuary. Further north and separated from the
ocean by narrow dunes are a series of lakes, the two largest in this
image being Lake Macquarie (at the top) and Tuggerah Lake.
West of the metropolitan area, some 65 kilometers inland, are the
Blue Mountains. The primary transport corridor for road and rail across
the mountains is clearly visible, and just north of it is the steep-sided
Grose River valley. In the southern part of the mountains is a series of
long valleys filled by Lake Burragorang, a major source of Sydney's
water supply.
South of Sydney's central area are Botany Bay, Bate Bay and
Port Hacking, and the Royal National Park. Further south, the
forested coastline gives way to the city of Wollongong, the
adjacent steel-making complex at Port Kembla, and Lake Illawarra.
Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/JPL, MISR Science Team
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