Lake Chad - 1973 and 1987

                                              

Click on the pic to enlarge image.  Click on the year to get a high resolution of the image.

The most dramatic decrease in the size of the lake is shown in the fifteen years between January 1973 and January 1987. Beginning in 1983 the amount of water used for irrigation began to increase. Ultimately, between 1983 and 1994, the amount of water diverted for purposes of irrigation quadrupled from the amount used in the previous 25 years. The red color denotes vegetation on the lake bed and the ripples on the western edge of the lake denote sand dunes formed by the wind.

Click here for a Quicktime movie of 15 years of changes in Lake Chad.

Lake Chad -  1963, 1973, 1987, and 1997

Click on each pic to enlarge.  Click on the year to get a high resolution of the image.

This additional time lapse sequence shows Lake Chad shrinking ever smaller over the course of four decades. The first image, taken with the Argon satellite in October 1963, and three subsequent Landsat satellite images taken in January 1973, January 1987, and January 1997, show the progression of the lake as it shrinks.

Click here for a Quicktime movie of four decades of change.

                               

Click on the pic to enlarge image.  Click on the title of the pic to get a high resolution of the image.

Here, a composite of Landsat-7 images from November 2000 to February 2001 shows the present stage of Lake Chad. The small patch of blue that is now the lake stands in stark contrast to the wide swath of the old lake bed (shown in green, indicating vegetation.)

Click here for a Quicktime movie of present day Lake Chad.