March 31, 2023 - Swirling Sea Ice in the Sea of Okhotsk

Sea Ice
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On March 29, 2023, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of
a gorgeous pattern on the Sea of Okhotsk. While the white-on-black
design may look like abstract art, it actually is formed by sea ice
floating on the frigid waters off of Sakhalin Island. Sakhalin Island
sits off of Russia's Far East and north of Hokkaido, Japan.

Each winter, sea ice expands over the Arctic Ocean as well as seas
around and south of the Arctic Circle. The Sea of Okhotsk, which
extends southward to 44˚North latitude, is one of the lowest latitudes
in the Northern Hemisphere where sea ice routinely forms in abundance.
As air temperatures warm and daylight lengthens in the spring, the ice
cover begins to melt, becoming thin. The thinning ice may stretch into
fanciful designs and filigrees when pushed and pulled by the action of
currents, wave action, or wind.

This mass of ice likely started forming further north and has been
carried southward by the Sakhalin Current, which flows southward along
the east coast of Sakhalin Island.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 3/29/2023
Resolutions: 1km (224.6 KB), 500m (573.5 KB), 250m (482.1
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=2023-03-31

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