Scientists Uncover the Truth Behind the World’s Largest Natural Mirror in Bolivia

Salar de Uyuni successful Bolivia. Credit: Ximena Medina Sancho / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

Salar de Uyuni successful Bolivia, known for its immense reflective surface, has agelong captivated tourists and photographers, earning it the nickname ‘the world’s largest earthy mirror.’

But until recently, determination was small technological grounds to enactment the assertion that the monolithic brackish level genuinely acts similar a mirror—especially nether outer observation. A survey published successful Communications Earth & Environment acceptable retired to analyse the phenomenon.

The researchers confirmed that the reflector effect does occur. However, their findings uncover that the aboveground of what’s often referred to arsenic the world’s largest earthy reflector successful Bolivia is acold from uniform. Its reflective prime varies by location, upwind conditions, and clip of year.

Satellite information reveals uneven aboveground behavior

Lead writer Dr. Junyan Yang and his squad utilized a two-pronged attack to knowing the brackish flat’s reflective behavior. First, they analyzed outer information from Sentinel-3, which uses radar altimeters to measurement aboveground smoothness.

Between 2016 and 2024, the squad reviewed much than 390,000 radar readings. A stronger instrumentality awesome indicated a smoother, much reflective surface.

Reflections — Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia 🤸‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/QS6manT4UE

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To verify the outer data, researchers conducted fieldwork successful February 2024 during the tallness of the rainy season. Their sojourn coincided with a outer walk overhead. On the ground, they utilized optical instruments to measurement the flatness of the water’s aboveground and deployed a drone to seizure images of sunlight reflecting disconnected the surface.

The crushed observations aligned intimately with outer measurements—areas with stronger radar signals so showed wide mirror-like reflections.

However, Yang explained that the aboveground is not consistently creaseless crossed the full brackish flat. He stated that Salar de Uyuni does not enactment arsenic 1 continuous reflector erstwhile viewed done radar, and by extension, whitethorn not beryllium optically azygous either. This challenges earlier assumptions successful technological literature.

Climate and play cardinal to reflector effect

The survey recovered that the astir mirror-like conditions hap soon aft heavy rainfall, earlier the h2o begins to evaporate. Researchers identified a beardown nexus betwixt seasonal rainfall patterns and the quality of the reflective surface.

According to their findings, the perfect model to witnesser the effect is from precocious January done aboriginal March.

One astonishing effect came from the relation of wind—or rather, its deficiency of impact. Despite expectations, airy winds did not disrupt the reflective surface. Researchers judge this is owed to the shallow extent of water, which prevents ripples and helps support the reflector effect adjacent nether breezy conditions.

The findings supply the archetypal technological confirmation of the earthy reflector effect and explicate wherefore its quality remains unpredictable.