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May 8, 2020 - Bering Strait
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Substantial spring melting of sea ice in the Bering Strait was well underway in early May, 2020. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of the scene on May 6. Open water can be seen along the coast of Alaska (east), south of that state’s Saint Lawrence Island as well as a smaller amount of open water off of Russia’s coast. Most of the remaining ice appears as a mix of large and small blocks, which is typical of melting sea ice.
Each winter, Arctic sea ice expands in the frigid temperatures and long darkness. As daylight lengthens and temperatures warm, ice begins to melt. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), April sea ice extent primarily retreated in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea, but also within the Labrador Sea, Baffin Bay, the Davis Strait, and the southern end of the East Greenland Sea. NSIDC also reported “April air temperatures at the 925 hPa level (approximately 2,500 feet above the surface) were 2 to 5 degrees Celsius (4 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit) above average over most of the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea, with the exception of Svalbard and the Barents Sea where air temperatures were near average.”
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 5/6/2020
Resolutions:
1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Substantial spring melting of sea ice in the Bering Strait was well underway in early May, 2020. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of the scene on May 6. Open water can be seen along the coast of Alaska (east), south of that state’s Saint Lawrence Island as well as a smaller amount of open water off of Russia’s coast. Most of the remaining ice appears as a mix of large and small blocks, which is typical of melting sea ice.
Each winter, Arctic sea ice expands in the frigid temperatures and long darkness. As daylight lengthens and temperatures warm, ice begins to melt. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), April sea ice extent primarily retreated in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea, but also within the Labrador Sea, Baffin Bay, the Davis Strait, and the southern end of the East Greenland Sea. NSIDC also reported “April air temperatures at the 925 hPa level (approximately 2,500 feet above the surface) were 2 to 5 degrees Celsius (4 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit) above average over most of the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea, with the exception of Svalbard and the Barents Sea where air temperatures were near average.”
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 5/6/2020
Resolutions:
1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
