November 2, 2021 - Colorful Waters off the Yucatan Peninsula
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The north and western coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula wore a bright
halo of blues, greens, and tan in late October 2021. The Moderate
Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra
satellite acquired a true-color image of the colorful scene on October
31.
The coast-hugging swirls most likely come from sediment floating in the
waters and carried by the currents of the Bay of Campeche. Sediment
scatters light and this reflectivity gives water characteristic color
when viewed from space. When floating near the surface, sediment
appears muddy-tan but as sediment sinks and disperses the color changes
to shades of green and blue. The sediment most likely comes from two
sources: run-off from the land (via rivers or direct runoff) and
churned up from the sea floor by tide and currents. Some of the color
may also come from phytoplankton—microscopic plant-like organisms—that
sometimes float on the surface in blooms large enough to be seen from
space.
Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 10/31/2021
Resolutions: 1km (357 KB), 500m (952.8 KB), 250m (648.4 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2021-11-02
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