Start Date: End Date: Published Date Data Date
Data acquired May 13 - 13, 2002 1000 x 1300 265 KB - JPEG
Data acquired May 13 - 13, 2002 2000 x 2600 904 KB - JPEG
Data acquired May 13 - 13, 2002 4000 x 5200 2 MB - JPEG
Between Alaska’s Seward Peninsula and far northeastern Siberia, spring temperatures are clearing the Bering Strait (left of center) of its seasonal sea ice. South of the Bering Strait, winds have blown the ice away from the north shore of St. Lawrence Island. South of Seward’s Peninsula, Norton Sound is free of ice, and the murky waters in the western end and southward along the coast are most likely due to suspended sediments for the most part, with a small contribution from tiny marine plants called phytoplankton. The sediments take on the appearance of streamers or filaments down in Kuskokwim Bay (lower right).
Right of center, a white ribbon running north-south and then west shows the path of the still-frozen Yukon River. At upper left, several polynyas (areas of open water or reduced ice within an ice pack) are evident in the ice in the Chukchi Sea.
This MODIS image was acquired on May 13, 2002.
Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC
Published May 19, 2002 Data acquired May 13 - 13, 2002