March 18, 2021 - Sea ice off of Newfoundland and Labrador

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   Sea ice off of Newfoundland and Labrador
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   Swirls of sea ice floated in the Davis Strait between Newfoundland and
   Labrador, Canada and southwestern Greenland in mid-March 2021. The
   Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s
   Terra satellite acquired a false-color image of the region on March 10.
   A small amount of sea ice also can be seen in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

   True-color images use red, green, and blue light to create an image
   that looks very much like we could see if we looked with our own
   vision. False-color images such as this one adds infrared light to
   visible light (MODIS bands 7-2-1)—a great combination for separating
   ice from cloud. While both would appear white in true-color images,
   snow and ice appear blue in this type of false-color image while cloud
   appears white. High cloud which contains ice will have a light tint of
   blue. In addition, plants appear bright green, open land appears tan,
   and deep water looks black.

   Each winter, sea ice forms in the Davis Strait off the coast of
   Newfoundland and Labrador as well as in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It
   typically lingers into spring, providing breeding grounds for the North
   Atlantic harp seals. This year, sea ice extent was much lower than
   usual along the coast and nearly non-existent in the Gulf of St.
   Lawrence. Fortunately, cool temperatures and movement of sea ice from
   further north brought more sea ice to the coast in March. Harp seals
   pupping season is listed as “early March” in the Gulf of St. Lawrence
   and “mid to late March” along the Newfoundland and Labrador coast.
   While there is virtually no suitable ice in the Gulf right now, it is
   thought that adequate ice exists off the coast to support a normal
   breeding season this year.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Terra
   Date Acquired: 3/10/2021
   Resolutions:  1km (1.2 MB),  500m (3 MB),  250m (2 MB)
   Bands Used: 7,2,1
   Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2021-03-18
 
