April 7, 2010 - Eastern Coast of Greenland

Eastern Coast of Greenland

White snow and clouds dominate the landscape in this image of eastern Greenland, captured by the MODIS on the Aqua satellite on March 27, 2010. It is early spring and the bare, brown ground is just barely starting to show under the snow in a few spots towards the top middle of image. Iceland, partially obscured by clouds at the bottom right of the image, does have some brown patches as well.

The Greenland Sea to the north, still has plenty of sea ice along the coast. The reason the sea ice remains along the coast is that an icy ocean current (called the east Greenland Current) from the Arctic Ocean is making its way southward toward the North Atlantic Ocean along Greenland's coast. The Denmark Strait (between Greenland and Iceland) does have some open water that is free of ice.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 03/27/2010
Resolutions: 1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC