A Long View Of The Arctic

  • Released Tuesday, March 3rd, 2015
  • Updated Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023 at 1:49PM
  • ID: 11752
Hitch a ride with a satellite as it takes flight over the Arctic on the summer solstice.

Hitch a ride with a satellite as it takes flight over the Arctic on the summer solstice.

In the Arctic summer, there are days when the sun never sets. This period of extended sunlight offers the chance to observe long expanses of Earth’s northern latitudes from space. On June 21, 2014—the summer solstice—the Operational Land Imager on the USGS-NASA Landsat 8 satellite acquired an image swath that exhibits the Arctic’s sunlit, although sometimes cloud-covered, land and ocean features. The swath in its entirety stretches roughly 4,200 miles long by 120 miles wide. The scenes begin in Scandinavia, track across Greenland, and end in western Canada. Watch the video to fly along on a tour of Arctic landscapes.

While much of the Arctic is still frozen in June, the ice is in various stages of melting. See a satellite’s view of the region in this video.

Greenland’s Elephant Foot Glacier is a piedmont-type glacier, which form when ice spills from a steep valley onto a relatively flat plain.

Greenland’s Elephant Foot Glacier is a piedmont-type glacier, which form when ice spills from a steep valley onto a relatively flat plain.

The various stages of sea ice in the Amundsen Gulf include blue ice, first-year ice, dark grey ice, and brash ice.

The various stages of sea ice in the Amundsen Gulf include blue ice, first-year ice, dark grey ice, and brash ice.

On Canada’s Victoria Island, early season melt water carries sediment from glacial erosion into lakes, giving them a uniform green color.

On Canada’s Victoria Island, early season melt water carries sediment from glacial erosion into lakes, giving them a uniform green color.

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NASA's Earth Observatory
Satellite images courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory/Jesse Allen