August 5, 2021 - The Bright Blue Reefs of Grande Terre, New Caledonia

Follow @NASA_MODIS

New Caledonia
Tweet
Share

The exceptional natural beauty of the reefs of New Caledonia shines
brightly in this true-color image acquired on August 4, 2021, by the
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s
Terra satellite.

The bright blue reefs that shimmer around Grande Terre Island are part
of one of the most extensive coral reef systems on Earth. According to
the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), which has listed the region and a World Heritage Site, the
lagoons and reefs of New Caledonia feature exceptional diversity of
coral and fish species, a continuum of habitats from mangroves to
seagrasses, and contain the world’s most diverse concentration of reef
structures. Intensely beautiful—from Earth or orbiting above—these
reefs provide habitat for threatened marine species such as turtles,
whales, and dugongs.

Grande Terre is the largest island of New Caledonia, and is a long,
narrow island with a tall central spine that gives way to steep slopes
in the east and lowland plains in the west. Measuring about 250 miles
(400 km) long and only 50 mi (80 km) wide, Grande Terre sits in the
Pacific Ocean roughly 830 miles (1,300 km) east of Australia. The
island is ringed by a 1,000-mile (1,600-km)-long coral reef. Extending
beyond the island, the coral reef forms a huge lagoon that covers about
24,000 square kilometers (9,300 square miles).

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 8/5/2021
Resolutions: 1km (371.5 KB), 500m (926.8 KB), 250m (622.9
KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2021-08-05

--- up 12 weeks, 6 days, 12 hours, 14 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)