October 15, 2022 - Sediment in the Strait of Tartary
Strait of Tartary
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Gusty wind and scattered rain showers across Russia’s Far East
contributed to a heavy sediment load in the Strait of Tartary in
mid-October 2022. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image
of the still-windy scene on October 14.
The narrow Strait of Tartary (also known as Tartar Strait) lies between
the Russian mainland (west) and Sakhalin Island (east). At its
narrowest point, the Strait measures only 4.5 miles (7 km) in width,
but widens as it meets both the Sea of Okhotsk, in the north, and the
Sea of Japan (East Sea), in the south.
This important waterway has enough depth to allow commercial vessel
traffic, dipping to nearly 210 meters (690 feet) maximum depth, but the
water depth is shallow in most of the Strait. Both blowing winds and
moving tides can stir up sediment from the bottom. In addition, the
Earth’s tenth-longest river, the Amur River, pours into the Strait. As
the Amur travels across Mongolia, China, and Russia, it collects
substantial sediment, which ultimately ends up in the Strait of
Tartary.
Satellite imagery shows heavy cloud covering Russia’s Far East,
including the Strait of Tartary, between October 10-12. As the clouds
cleared, increased loads of sediment became visible in the Strait.
Heavy sediment is notably heavy on October 14, as this image reveals.
At that time, strong wind was blowing gray-tinted smoke or dust into
long east-to-west-oriented plumes.
Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 10/14/2022
Resolutions: 1km (196.2 KB), 500m (475 KB), 250m (218.4 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=2022-10-15
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