July 20, 2009 - Ice in the Hudson Bay

Ice in the Hudson Bay

The sea ice in northeastern Canada's Hudson Bay continues to melt. It is interesting to compare the amount of sea ice here to that shown in this June 11, 2009 image. Today's image was captured by the MODIS on the Terra satellite on July 6, 2009. This image is false color, which makes it easier to distinguish ice from clouds. Ice is bright blue, while clouds are a pale cyan color.

It is during this season (mid-July to October) that the Hudson Bay is ice-free enough to be navigable. The Bay is a very large body of water, covering about 475,000 square miles (1,230,000 square km). It covers as much area as almost all of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Mississippi.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 07/06/2009
Resolutions: 1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 7,2,1
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC