Sediment in Lake Erie

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    NASA image acquired March 21, 2012

    After a nearly ice-free winter, Lake Erie was filled with multi-colored swirls of sediment on the first days of spring, 2012. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image of the southern Great Lakes region on March 21, 2012 at 16:25 UTC (12:25 p.m. Eastern Standard Time).
    The nearly clear waters of Lake Huron can be seen in the northwest and Lake Ontario lies to the east of sediment-filled Lake Erie. Relatively small Lake St. Clair, also filled with multicolor sediment, sits between Lake Huron and Lake Erie.
    Major cities line the shore of Lake Erie, and appear as gray smudges. In the far northeast corner of the lake sits Buffalo, New York. Moving westward, the town of Erie sits on the shoreline in Pennsylvania. Cleveland, Ohio is marked by a red hotspot, and associated with swirls of yellow-green sediment reaching from the coast into the lake.
    The winter of 2011-2012 has been warmer than normal for the Great Lakes Region. A local news station, newsnet5.com, reported in late February that temperatures around all five Great Lakes had been averaging 5 ° F higher than normal since November 2011. Great Lakes ice cover stood at only 5% as of February 15. Then, on March 21, the National Weather Service (NWS) reported that the Lake Erie water temperature measured at Buffalo, New York was 39 °F, which tied for the warmest water temperature ever measured there during the month of March.

    Credit: NASA/GSFC/Jeff Schmaltz/MODIS Land Rapid Response Team

    NASA image use policy.

    NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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    Alan Dorzbächer, dr.Ozda, and 20 other people added this photo to their favorites.

    1. Unlucky_Alf [deleted] 15 months ago | reply

      Great shot.

    2. james lj 15 months ago | reply

      Cool! I'm somewhere in this picture, too.

    3. dodagp 15 months ago | reply

      Magnificent image !!!
      Impressive sharpness as ever and interesing data !

    4. finsj1969 14 months ago | reply

      All part of the liberal agenda. Global warming is a myth perpetuated by Obama to scare you into voting against the oil companies. It's a sad day in America when a non-US citizen can become president. I pray everyday for the rapture.

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