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Sea Ice Off East Antarctica’s Princess Astrid Coast

Antarctica coast from above with land covered in ice at bottom of frame and dark blue water with sea ice above
On April 5, 2015, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this natural-color image of sea ice off the coast of East Antarctica’s Princess Astrid Coast.

On April 5, 2015, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this natural-color image of sea ice off the coast of East Antarctica’s Princess Astrid Coast.

White areas close to the continent are sea ice, while white areas in the northeast corner of the image are clouds. One way to better distinguish ice from clouds is with false-color imagery. In the false-color view of the scene here, ice is blue and clouds are white.

The image was acquired after Antarctic sea ice had passed its annual minimum extent (reached on Feb. 20, 2015), and had resumed expansion toward its maximum extent (usually reached in September).

More information: NASA’s Earth Observatory

Image Credit: NASA/Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid ResponseCaption: Kathryn Hansen