Start Date: End Date: Published Date Data Date
Data acquired April 9, 2004 1450 x 1100 320 KB - JPEG
Data acquired April 9, 2004 2900 x 2200 1 MB Bytes - JPEG
Data acquired April 9, 2004 5800 x 4400 3 MB - JPEG
Encroaching spring has not yet broken up the ice around northern Greenland and Ellesmere Island in this true-color image, acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite on April 9, 2004. Shadows on the snow and ice create patterns similar to snowflakes and ice crystals, highlighting fjords and creating an image where frozen water bodies seem to be higher than land features. Of course this is not actually the case—the fjords and frozen water bodies only seem higher because the combination of their relative flatness with snow make them seem featureless, while the shadows from the land features seem to create or exagerate valleys, making them seem lower than they really are.
Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC
Published April 29, 2004 Data acquired April 9, 2004