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MODIS: Swirls along an Ice Highway

Sea water off the east coast of Greenland looked a bit like marbled paper in October 2012.

The shifting swirls of white were sea ice, as observed by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite on October 17, 2012. In fact, this ice moved discernibly between October 16 and October 17. Thin, free-drifting ice moves very easily with winds and currents.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image of Typhoons Saola (left) and Damrey approaching mainland China on August 1, 2012.

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Blazing Fires In The US Caught By NASA’s Aqua Satellite

Just as the AIRS instrument on Aqua can detect the ambient temperature of clouds, the MODIS infrared imaging instrument can detect hot-spots on land. When Aqua takes an image, it highlights the hot spots in red and smoke clouds in light brown.

Image credit: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team, Jeff Schmaltz