This image of the summer phytoplankton bloom in the Barents Sea off the northwesternmost corner of Russia was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite on August 19, 2009. The milky-blue color that dominates the bloom suggests that it contains large numbers of phytoplankton called coccolithophores.
Published Aug 22, 2009
Acquired on May 22,2010, this natural-color image shows a phytoplankton bloom stretching hundreds of kilometers, from the waters west of Ireland to the Bay of Biscay.
Published May 26, 2010
Two broad swaths of wind-blown ash, many kilometers across, obscure the Icelandic coastline and sweep over the Atlantic Ocean in this natural color image from May 26, 2010.
Published May 26, 2010
The sum of Earth's plants, on land and in the ocean, changes slightly from year to year as weather patterns shift. This pair of images contrasts average plant growth in 2002 to growth in 2008, revealing small interannual changes.
Published Jun 6, 2009
