A catalog of NASA images and animations of our home planet

• Credit:

  Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Officially spring, perhaps, but even as late as April 19, 2002, Foxe Basin in northeast Canada, inland of Baffin Island, was still locked in winter. Foxe Basin is at the top of this MODIS image, but south of Southampton Island, it becomes Hudson Bay proper. These images from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on the Terra satellite show the arrival of spring and summer and the resulting retreat of snow and ice from the region. The final image in the series, from Sept. 19, is a more close-up view, and the Basin is almost ice-free. Sediment and possibly phytoplankton fill the waters with colorful swirls.

Images & Animations

• Webmaster: Paul Przyborski
• NASA Official: Steven E. Platnick
• Database Updated: May 7, 2013