NASA MODIS Image of the Day: September 26, 2011 – Southern Greenland
With the short growing season coming to an end in late summer 2011, the coasts of southern Greenland appear mostly ice-free and sport a coating of green vegetation.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite captured this true-color image on September 16, 2011.
Despite the warm summer and despite documented thinning of the Southern Greenland ice sheets in recent years, most of the landscape remains dominated by ice. In the fjords, glaciers and ice remain, although the ice and snow is clearly melting, as sediment from the melt discolors the water, bringing tones of green and turquoise to the coastline. Icebergs and sea ice linger in ocean water surrounding Greenland, especially off the tip of the southern coast.
