• MODIS Pic of the Day 08 June 2022

    From Dan Richter@1:317/3 to All on Wed Jun 8 12:00:32 2022
    June 8, 2022 - Blooms off the East Coast of the United States

    Blooms
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    Swirls of color lingered in the Atlantic Ocean off the Mid-Atlantic and
    Northeastern United States through early June 2022. The Moderate
    Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra
    satellite acquired a true-color image of the scene on June 6.

    Several swaths of ocean color are visible in this image. A long,
    sinuous, cloudy-appearing length of color stretches in the deep blue
    Atlantic parallel to the coast of Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and
    New York. A fanciful, brighter jewel-toned swirl sits south of
    Massachusetts while a larger swirl colors the Gulf of Maine, reaching
    from east of Massachusetts north to Maine.

    These colors are produced by massive colonies of phytoplankton, which
    are microscopic plant-like organisms that live in these waters
    year-round in small numbers. When conditions are favorable — correct
    water temperature, daylight length, and nutrient levels—phytoplankton
    can reproduce explosively, creating large blooms that can easily be
    viewed from space.

    A silver-toned, mirror-like tint overlies some of the bloom in the Gulf
    of Maine and stretches south and westward over the open Atlantic Ocean.
    This gleam comes from an optic phenomenon known as “sunglint”. Sunglint
    occurs when sunlight reflects off the surface of water at the same
    angle that a satellite sensor views it. The result is a mirror-like
    reflection of sunlight off the water and back at the satellite sensor.

    Phytoplankton blooms are common in most of the world’s oceans and occur
    regularly in the Atlantic Ocean off of the East Coast of the United
    States in spring and summer. The color, extent of the bloom, and
    location all change with time, currents, and water conditions. Even the
    species of phytoplankton play a role—different species may lend
    different colors to the bloom.

    On May 17, 2022, NASA’s Earth Observatory published an image of
    phytoplankton blooming along the Mid-Atlantic region that was acquired
    that same day by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS)
    instrument on the NOAA-20 satellite. At that time, the bloom was more
    intensely colored and larger than on June 6. The publication gives an
    excellent discussion of the cause of this particular bloom, as well as
    provides a discussion—and a video—of the importance of phytoplankton as
    a primary fuel to life in the ocean. To view the Earth Observatory
    article, click here.

    Image Facts
    Satellite: Terra
    Date Acquired: 6/6/2022
    Resolutions: 1km (991.9 KB), 500m (2.7 MB), 250m (1.8 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=2022-06-08

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