This website works best with a newer web browser such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Microsoft Edge. Internet Explorer is not supported by this website.

CIMSS Satellite Blog

MENU

Nearshore ice motion in the Beaufort Sea

By Scott Bachmeier •

Suomi-NPP VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm) images [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

Suomi-NPP VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm) images (above) showed a variety of Beaufort Sea ice floe motion within the nearshore waters of Alaska and Yukon during the 20-21 June 2022 period. Just north of Utqiavik (or Barrow, PABR), a sharp “shear line” was seen on 20 June — with a narrow line of ice flows moving east-northeastward, directly adjacent to the the pack ice that was moving westward.

Farther to the east (in the bottom right corner of this satellite scene), a fracture in the fast ice off the Yukon coastline led to the separation of a large ice floe on 21 June — which then drifted west-northwestward. Of note were the unusually warm surface air temperatures at stations near/along the northern coastline of Yukon, with some temperature readings rising into the upper 50s and low 60s F.

Categories: Arctic, Cryosphere, Suomi NPP, VIIRS