May 24, 2021 - Beaufort Sea Thaw

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   Beaufort Sea Thaw
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   Each spring, as hours of sunlight increase and temperatures rise, the
   expansive pack of sea ice that coats the Beaufort Sea during winter
   begins to melt. The maximum extent of Arctic sea ice usually occurs in
   mid-March and sea ice minimum typically is reached across the Arctic
   shortly after the end of summer, as sunlight shortens and temperatures
   drop.

   The Beaufort Sea is a part of the Arctic Ocean off the coast of
   Northern Territories and the Yukon, Canada and the state of Alaska, the
   United States. It is also one part of the storied “Northwest Passage”—a
   complex, winding maze of sounds, channels, bays, and straits that
   (during part of the year) permit ship traffic to travel between the
   Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Artic Ocean. Ice
   typically begins to break up in the Beaufort Sea in mid-May, with open
   water first appearing near the shoreline.

   On May 20, 2021, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
   (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of
   open water in the Beaufort Sea north of Northern Territories, Canada.
   Thanks to the NASA Worldview app, we can easily compare two images
   acquired nearly a month apart to visualize the changes in the area over
   time. On April 24, the same area was covered in floating sea ice. To
   compare the two images, click  here

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Aqua
   Date Acquired: 5/20/2021
   Resolutions:  1km (380.2 KB),  500m (1.1 MB),  250m (3.2 MB)
   Bands Used: 1,4,3
   Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2021-05-24
 
