This animation displays these two geophysical data products of the Greenland ice sheet side-by-side, showing MODIS data on the left side and QuikSCAT data on the right. The 2007 melt season is shown twice. In the first sequence, MODIS surface temperature is compared with several categories of QuikSCAT melt between March 15th and October 13th, 2010. During this sequence, active melt detected by QuikSCAT is shown in light blue, reduced melt is medium blue, and completed melt is dark blue. For the MODIS, surface temperature is shown with the color scale — red indicates a surface temperature greater than -1 degree Celsius. As MODIS shows warmer surface temperature as the melt season progresses, QuikSCAT consistently identifies the corresponding melt.
In the second sequence, the MODIS and QuikSCAT melted regions of the ice sheet were accumulated during the melt season. QuikSCAT captures melt earlier, and then melt is detected by MODIS shortly afterward at a higher spatial resolution. The final result (frame) shows the seasonal melt extent which was consistently delineated by both sensors. 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"caption": "", "description": "Image comparing the total accumulated melt from both MODIS and QuikSCAT on August 8, 2007.", "items": [ { "id": 335632, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 491161, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003700/a003738/MODIS_QSCAT_melt_still.3231.jpg", "filename": "MODIS_QSCAT_melt_still.3231.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Image comparing the total accumulated melt from both MODIS and QuikSCAT on August 8, 2007.", "width": 6400, "height": 3600, "pixels": 23040000 } }, { "id": 335631, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 491160, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003700/a003738/MODIS_QSCAT_melt_still.3231_web.png", "filename": "MODIS_QSCAT_melt_still.3231_web.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Image comparing the total accumulated melt from both MODIS and QuikSCAT on August 8, 2007.", "width": 320, "height": 180, 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"platform": "QuikSCAT", "sensor": "SeaWinds", "type": "Other", "organizations": [], "description": "", "credit": "", "url": "", "date_range": "01/01/2007 through 12/31/2007" }, { "name": "Land Surface Temperature", "common_name": "", "platform": "Terra", "sensor": "MODIS", "type": "Other", "organizations": [], "description": "", "credit": "", "url": "", "date_range": "01/01/2007 through 21/31/2007" } ], "nasa_science_categories": [ "Earth" ], "keywords": [ "Climate", "Cryology", "Cryosphere", "Earth Science", "For Educators", "Freeze/Thaw", "Global Warming", "HDTV", "Hydrosphere", "Hyperwall", "Ice Growth/Melt", "precipitation", "Presentation", "Seasonal Melting", "Snow/Ice", "Snow/ice Temperature" ], "recommended_pages": [], "related": [ { "id": 10880, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10880/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Greenland's Vanishing Ice", "description": "The fringe of the Greenland ice sheet endures an annual freeze-and-thaw cycle. Plunging temperatures and ample snow in fall and winter replenish the massive ice sheet, which covers 80 percent of the country's landmass. Endless sun in spring and summer melt ice at the surface and the meltwater runs off through the country's rocky edges to the oceans. This kind of natural cycle allows scientists to observe the impact of climate change over time. Satellites have provided continual monitoring of Greenland's ice cover since 1979. While annual melt patterns vary greatly, three decades of data reveal trends of increasing surface melt and number of melt days, as seen in the first visualization below. The annual Greenland melt also opens a window on one of the most important aspects of science by satellite: With more than one satellite instrument measuring the melt, scientists can compare data to provide a measure of confidence in their observations. In the second visualization, watch how two different satellite datasets created almost mirror-image views of Greenland's ice melt extent in one year. || ", "release_date": "2011-12-15T00:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:53:23.047067-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 480576, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010800/a010880/Greenland_melt_less3_ramp_STILL2007_cover_1024x576.jpg", "filename": "Greenland_melt_less3_ramp_STILL2007_cover_1024x576.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Scientists can see and fact-check from space how ice melts in Greenland each year.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } ], "sources": [], "products": [], "newer_versions": [], "older_versions": [], "alternate_versions": [] }