Northern Greenland and Ellesmere Island

Encroaching spring has not yet broken up the ice around
northern Greenland and Ellesmere Island in this true-color Terra MODIS
image from 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 exaggerate valleys,
making them seem lower than they really are.

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Images by the MODIS Rapid Response team.

Published April 9, 2004
Data acquired April 9, 2004

Source:

Terra > MODIS

Collection:

Rapid Response Gallery