7. Desert Mirages and Light Phenomena
The reflecting surface of the salt flat, high altitude, and dramatic temperature changes produce amazing optical illusions and light events. Complex mirages throughout the landscape cause far-off objects to seem to float above the surface during the hottest sections of the day. Perfect conditions for great mirages—where items below the horizon seem visible thanks to air refraction—are created by the level, white expanse of salt. The high albedo (reflectivity) of the salt flat magnifies these optical events by generating strong light conditions that might generate several mirage layers. Scientists have recorded how these circumstances might produce unique atmospheric optical displays like several sun images, light pillars, and intricate rainbow formations. The phenomena is especially remarkable around sunrise and sunset when the changing angle of sunlight mixes with various layers of air temperature to produce dynamic and always shifting visual effects that subvert our sense of reality.
8. Electrical Storms and Salt Lightning
Combining the large expanse of the salt flat with unusual atmospheric conditions at high altitude produces amazing electrical storm displays unlike anywhere else on planet. Unusual electrical field patterns produced by the flat, conductive surface of the salt affect the direction of lightning across the terrain. Visitors can observe amazing lightening displays that seem to dance across the mirror-like surface of the flooded salt flat, generating double images in the reflected water during the wet season, when thunderstorms roll across the salt flat. The great mineral richness and conductivity of the salt flat have been shown to affect the behaviour of electrical discharges, occasionally leading to unusual events such ball lightning and sprite lightning above the flat. The combination of the completely level horizon and the reflective surface enables researchers to view these electrical events from very wide distances, thereby offering special chances to investigate atmospheric electricity and lightning generation.