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August 3, 2026 - Chesapeake Bay
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The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States, touching portions of six states and the District of Columbia. It stretches from Havre de Grace, Maryland to Norfolk, Virginia—a distance of roughly 200 miles (322 km). At its narrowest point, the Bay measures about 3.4 miles (5.5 km) across while it measures 35 miles (56 km) at its widest.
Most of the Bay is very shallow, making deep water navigation possible only if captains stay in well-marked shipping lanes. The average depth is 21 feet (6.4 meters), but one remarkable area drops to a depth of 174 feet (53 meters). This is called “The Hole” and is located near Bloody Point, southeast of Annapolis, Maryland.
Another interesting feature is the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater, located near the mouth of the Bay in Virginia. It was created when an asteroid struck the Earth about 35 million years ago, before the Chesapeake Bay itself was formed. The impact crater, now buried beneath the Bay, has a diameter of about 53 miles (85 km) and is the sixth largest impact crater on Earth. The NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia is located about 3 miles (5 km) inside the outer rim of the impact crater.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this true-color image centered on the Chesapeake Bay on July 30, 2026. The Delaware Bay, smaller and carrying a higher sediment load, can be seen to the north of the massive Chesapeake Bay.
Several major cities have grown near the Chesapeake Bay and its associated rivers, most located along the well-travelled Interstate 95 corridor. In this image, cities look like large swaths of gray pixels. The most northern city is Baltimore, Maryland, which sits along the coast of the Bay and provides an extremely important harbor for freight. Moving south on I-95, the next large city is Washington, D.C., which merges with Alexandria and Arlington, Virgina on its southern side. The most southerly large city is Richmond, Virginia. Moving southeast from Richmond, the group of gray pixels along the shore at the mouth of the Bay represent Hampton, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 7/30/2026
Resolutions:
1km (55.6 KB), 500m (131.7 KB), 250m (143.1 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States, touching portions of six states and the District of Columbia. It stretches from Havre de Grace, Maryland to Norfolk, Virginia—a distance of roughly 200 miles (322 km). At its narrowest point, the Bay measures about 3.4 miles (5.5 km) across while it measures 35 miles (56 km) at its widest.
Most of the Bay is very shallow, making deep water navigation possible only if captains stay in well-marked shipping lanes. The average depth is 21 feet (6.4 meters), but one remarkable area drops to a depth of 174 feet (53 meters). This is called “The Hole” and is located near Bloody Point, southeast of Annapolis, Maryland.
Another interesting feature is the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater, located near the mouth of the Bay in Virginia. It was created when an asteroid struck the Earth about 35 million years ago, before the Chesapeake Bay itself was formed. The impact crater, now buried beneath the Bay, has a diameter of about 53 miles (85 km) and is the sixth largest impact crater on Earth. The NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia is located about 3 miles (5 km) inside the outer rim of the impact crater.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this true-color image centered on the Chesapeake Bay on July 30, 2026. The Delaware Bay, smaller and carrying a higher sediment load, can be seen to the north of the massive Chesapeake Bay.
Several major cities have grown near the Chesapeake Bay and its associated rivers, most located along the well-travelled Interstate 95 corridor. In this image, cities look like large swaths of gray pixels. The most northern city is Baltimore, Maryland, which sits along the coast of the Bay and provides an extremely important harbor for freight. Moving south on I-95, the next large city is Washington, D.C., which merges with Alexandria and Arlington, Virgina on its southern side. The most southerly large city is Richmond, Virginia. Moving southeast from Richmond, the group of gray pixels along the shore at the mouth of the Bay represent Hampton, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 7/30/2026
Resolutions:
1km (55.6 KB), 500m (131.7 KB), 250m (143.1 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
