NASA image acquired March 26, 2012
This nearly cloud-free view of Great Britain and Ireland was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite on March 26, 2012. Just a few days into spring, most of the land appears green, although not quite as brilliant as the summertime hues that give Ireland the nickname “the Emerald Island”.
The islands of Ireland (west) and Great Britain (east) are separated by the Irish Sea, which is filled with the turquoise, green and tan swirls typical of sediment, although blooming algae could also contribute some color to the waters. To the southeast, the English Channel separates the island of Great Britain from France (south) and Belgium (north). London can be seen as a gray circle situated inland on the tan-colored River Thames. The sediment from the Thames flows into the English Channel due east of London.
The United Kingdom is made up of Wales, Scotland and England, all located primarily on the island of Great Britain, and of Northern Ireland, which comprises the northern section of the island of Ireland. Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland, can be seen as a gray smudge on the eastern coast of the island. Almost due west Galway can be seen as a linear gray streak on the northern coast of Galway Bay, with the blue waters of Loch Corrib to the north.
Most of the United Kingdom and Ireland are part of the Celtic broadleaf forest ecoregion, where acid-loving oak and mixed oak forests abound, along with fen and swamp forests and ombrotrophic mires. A portion of the Scottish Highlands, in the north of Great Britain, are covered by the Caledon conifer forest ecoregion. The Caledonia conifers once covered a large area of Scotland, but now only about 1% of the original forest survives, mostly high in the cooler areas of the Highlands.
NASA/GSFC/Jeff Schmaltz/MODIS Land Rapid Response Team
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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mrastrodad, chris_swatton, harve64, aandy, and 115 other people added this photo to their favorites.
View 11 more comments
Paranoid from suffolk 14 months ago | reply
Thank you for posting this wonderful image
and Greetings from the county of Suffolk!
Unlucky_Alf [deleted] 14 months ago | reply
Great shot.
Creative Photography by Irene OFF/ON 14 months ago | reply
amazing clarity, thanks for sharing!
dee kells 14 months ago | reply
Wow, I am on the north coast of Northern Ireland, this is a wonderful photo, thank you guys ;-)
allyp73 14 months ago | reply
It's been great here in Scotland the last few days, hope it lasts a bit longer.
sean pics 14 months ago | reply
A very rare thing
odrivero 14 months ago | reply
Outstanding!
shutterbroke 14 months ago | reply
Excellent capture!
DarkAngelDay 14 months ago | reply
Nice
Petr Charousek 14 months ago | reply
Amazing, like CGI but it's not...
blueachilles 14 months ago | reply
Just lovely - thank you (from sunny Gloucestershire)
:SARA_be: 14 months ago | reply
Fantastisch ! Danke !
DiamantThomy 14 months ago | reply
Nice
olimpusjo 14 months ago | reply
De gran belleza.-
olimpusjo 14 months ago | reply
Felicidades.-
ab360gradi 14 months ago | reply
Seen and appreciated in mares de paz
AshTree25 14 months ago | reply
How brilliant is this! Thanks for posting - I'm in Plymouth, in the south west - right under the only bit of cloud in England, typical, haha!
penny_purple 4 months ago | reply
Probably the last time we saw the sun down in East Devon (SW England).