A Nearly Ice-Free Northwest Passage

In August 2016, tourists on a luxury cruise departed Seward Alaska and steered toward the waterways of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The excursion is one example of the growing human presence in an increasingly ice-free Northwest Passage—the famed high-latitude sea route that connects the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans. In mid-August 2016, the southern route through the Passage was nearly ice-free.

For most of the year, the Northwest Passage is frozen and impassible. But during the summer months, the ice melts and breaks up to varying degrees. The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPPsatellite captured the top image of the Northwest Passage on August 9, 2016. A path of open water can be traced along most of the distance from the Amundsen Gulf to Baffin Bay.

“It was a warm winter and spring,” said NASA sea ice scientist Walt Meier. That means that the seasonal ice—ice that grew since the end of last summer, and the type found throughout most of the Passage—is thinner than normal. Thinner ice can melt more easily, break up, and move out of the channels.

A scattering of broken ice is visible just east of Victoria Island. “It looks pretty thin and disintegrating,” Meier said. “I think an ice-strengthened ship could get through without too much trouble.”

The open water this year flows along the southern route, or “Amundsen route.” It’s not unusual for the southern route to open up to some degree, as it is more protected than the northern route and receives less sea ice directly from the Arctic Ocean.

At some point in almost every summer since 2007, conditions along the southern passage have been fairly open. There have been exceptions; the second image shows the Northwest Passage on August 9, 2013, as observed by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite. Ice that year was relatively extensive. Turn on the image comparison tool to see the difference.

What’s left of the ice in 2016 is opening up fast. Meier expects that the Northwest Passage will open up completely in the next couple of weeks. Moreover, a strong Arctic cyclone appears to be approaching the archipelago. It could push the ice around and further open up still-blocked channels. Or, it could have the opposite effect and push in ice from the north.

References and Related Reading

NASA Earth Observatory (2015, September 13) Partial Opening of the Northwest Passage.

National Snow & Ice Data Center (2016, August 16) Late summer in the Arctic, sea ice melt continues. Accessed August 18, 2016.

NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory (2016, August 11) Suomi NPP sees the Northwest Passage. Accessed August 18, 2016.

NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response, using VIIRS data from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite. Suomi NPP is the result of a partnership between NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Department of Defense. Caption by Kathryn Hansen.

Instrument(s): Aqua - MODISSuomi NPP - VIIRS

Omote y Ura

Por el camino del Omote se llega al Ura, y siguiendo al Ura llegaremos al Omote. Omote es la forma, Ura es el fondo de la misma. Omote es la cruel realidad, Ura el sueño deseado. Omote es impersonal, tr quiere fuera, Ura te quiere dentro. Ying y yang. #Reflexiones #Bujinkan #Budo #FelizViernes

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vzfv

8 years ago

Mis tesoros 😍😍😍. Una forma barata de viajar, y sin salir de casa.

The Start of Cassini’s Grand Finale

Cue drumroll…

For the first time ever, our Cassini spacecraft dove through the narrow gap between Saturn and its rings on April 26. At 5 a.m. EDT, Cassini crossed the ring plane with its science instruments turned on and collecting data.

During this dive, the spacecraft was not in contact with Earth. The first opportunity to regain contact with the spacecraft is expected around 3 a.m. EDT on April 27.

This area between Saturn and its rings has never been explored by a spacecraft before. What we learn from these daring final orbits will further our understanding of how giant planets, and planetary systems everywhere, form and evolve.

So, you might be asking…how did this spacecraft maneuver its orbit between Saturn and its rings? Well…let us explain!

On April 22, Cassini made its 127th and final close approach to Saturn’s moon Titan. The flyby put the spacecraft on course for its dramatic last act, known as the Grand Finale.

As the spacecraft passed over Titan, the moon’s gravity bent its path, reshaping the robotic probe’s orbit slightly so that instead of passing just outside Saturn’s main rings, Cassini would begin a series of 22 dives between the rings and the planet.

With this assist, Cassini received a large increase in velocity of approximately 1,925 mph with respect to Saturn.

This final chapter of exploration and discovery is in many ways like a brand-new mission. Twenty-two times, the Cassini spacecraft will dive through the unexplored space between Saturn and its rings. What we learn from these ultra-close passes over the planet could be some of the most exciting revelations ever returned by the long-lived spacecraft.

Throughout these daring maneuvers, updates will be posted on social media at:

@CassiniSaturn on Twitter @NASAJPL on Twitter

Updates will also be available online at: https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/grand-finale/milestones/

Follow along with us during this mission’s Grand Finale!

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

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vzfv

8 years ago

Practicing #Bujinkan on wednesday in #Retiro #Budo #Ninjutsu

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vzfv

8 years ago

¡Oh, oh...!

😏

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vzfv

8 years ago

Y aquí está de nuevo, como una molesta rutina, como una paz reincidente. De nuevo escuchando esta hermosa pieza, rodeado de oscuridad, encerrado, pero sintiendo paz espiritual al escuchar esta canción. Ya no es sólo una canción de uno de mis videojuegos favoritos, por suerte o por desgracia ya la he escuchado con los ojos cerrados y sintiéndola cuando he cerrado algunos capítulos de mi vida reciente. La novedad es que, no me siento triste, no excesivamente. Quizá me siento más decepcionado o frustrado pero tampoco demasiado. Espero que estos sentimientos livianos sean a causa de nuestro buen hacer al acabar, y no porque realmente me esté acostumbrando a decir adiós. Esta canción tiene carga sentimental para mi y quería compartírtela, calma mi alma en momentos difíciles o bien en momentoa de cambio como hoy. Y es que si has jugado el juego entenderás los sentimientos de Yuna y como esta música corresponde a su desesperanza, apatía, decepción y traición pero a la vez a su valor y gallardía para seguir adelante. Y yo quiero que siempre estés dotado de ese valor y gallardía. Aunque me de algo de pena que hayamos terminado, me alegro mucho de que sigamos siendo amigos y te agradezco este tiempo que empleaste en mi, realmente guardo algunos gratos recuerdos a la luz de la luna contigo, así que sólo quería decir gracias y que sigamos igual de frikis que siempre jajaja.

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vzfv

8 years ago

¡Ay, que en cinco días te veo!. Hay nervios... No sé ni que decir, no sé de que hablaremos, si es que hablamos porque te voy a comer a besos. Vaya, vaya. Pues los Reyes Magos han venido generosos este año, falta que me traigan un nuevo trabajo y, oye, capitán general como diría mi abuelo. ¡Ay, qué ilusión, que voy a ir hecho un pincel!. Ups, que tengo que preparar los regalos, no sé que hago aquí.

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vzfv

8 years ago

¿Cuántos secretos más revelarás siendo encantador? 😍

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vzfv

8 years ago

A mi no me asusta el apocalipsis zombie, trabajo de cara al público y estoy preparado para lo peor.

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