Images
June 11, 2020 - Blooms off Iceland
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The waters off of Iceland were stained with diffuse swirls of blues and greens in early June 2020. These jewel-toned hues were created by a large bloom of microscopic, plant-like organisms called phytoplankton. Every year, a massive phytoplankton bloom spreads across the North Atlantic Ocean, moving from south to north and peaking in the late spring. While they live in these waters in small numbers year-round, when conditions are right – when they are fed by nutrients that have built up during winter and that are churned up from the depths by winter and spring storms, and spurred by the lengthening days and warming temperatures of spring and summer, these organisms reproduce explosively, creating massive colorful blooms that can easily be seen from space.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of the colorful bloom peeking out from a bank of cloud off of Iceland on June 10, 2020.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 6/10/2020
Resolutions:
1km (142.1 KB), 500m (440.2 KB), 250m (1 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
The waters off of Iceland were stained with diffuse swirls of blues and greens in early June 2020. These jewel-toned hues were created by a large bloom of microscopic, plant-like organisms called phytoplankton. Every year, a massive phytoplankton bloom spreads across the North Atlantic Ocean, moving from south to north and peaking in the late spring. While they live in these waters in small numbers year-round, when conditions are right – when they are fed by nutrients that have built up during winter and that are churned up from the depths by winter and spring storms, and spurred by the lengthening days and warming temperatures of spring and summer, these organisms reproduce explosively, creating massive colorful blooms that can easily be seen from space.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of the colorful bloom peeking out from a bank of cloud off of Iceland on June 10, 2020.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 6/10/2020
Resolutions:
1km (142.1 KB), 500m (440.2 KB), 250m (1 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
