January 24, 2023 - Bloom of Iberian Peninsula
Bloom
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A winter phytoplankton bloom colored the waters of the North Atlantic
Ocean off the Iberian Peninsula in late January 2023. The Moderate
Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra
satellite acquired a true-color image of the scene on January 23.
Phytoplankton are microscopic plant-like organisms that live in
relatively small number in waters in this region year-round. Given
adequate sunlight and nutrients, phytoplankton can reproduce
explosively and create colorful blooms that are large enough to be
visible from space.
There is some color in the open waters of the North Atlantic, but most
appears near the coastline off of Portugal. It is likely that recent
heavy rains and flooding swept sediment and nutrients from the coast
into the ocean, spurring the growth of phytoplankton. Parts of the
Iberian Peninsula experienced heavy rain in late December, and Porto, a
city on the coast of Portugal, reported flooding as recently as January
8.
Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 1/23/2024
Resolutions: 1km (815.3 KB), 500m (2.1 MB), 250m (1.5 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2023-01-24
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