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Sea ice off the coast of Labrador and Newfoundland, Canada

By Scott Bachmeier •

Suomi NPP VIIRS true-color and false-color RGB images [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS true-color and false-color RGB images [click to enlarge]

A comparison of Suomi NPP VIIRS true-color and false-color Red/Green/Blue (RGB) images from the SSEC RealEarth site (above) revealed the intricate structure of sea ice off the coast of Labrador, Canada on 03 May 2016. Snow cover and ice appear as shades of cyan in the false-color image (in contrast to supercooled water droplet clouds, which appear as shades of white).

A larger-scale view using GOES-13 (GOES-East) Visible (0.63 µm) images (below) showed the motion of this sea ice, which extended farther south off the coast of Newfoundland. The general southeastward ice motion was driven by the flow of the Labrador Current.

GOES-13 Visible (0.63 µm) images [click to play animation]

GOES-13 Visible (0.63 µm) images [click to play animation]

According to data from the Canadian Ice Service, the concentration of this medium to thick “first year ice” (Labrador | Labrador/Newfoundland) was as high as 9/10 to 10/10 (below). The departure of normal of portions of this ice was as high as 9/10 to 10/10 above normal.

Ice concentration off the Labrador coast [click to enlarge]

Ice concentration off the Labrador coast [click to enlarge]

Ice concentration off the coast of Labrador and Newfoundland [click to enlarge]

Ice concentration off the coast of Labrador and Newfoundland [click to enlarge]

 

Categories: GOES-13, RealEarth, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images, Suomi NPP, VIIRS