MODIS Image: Phytoplankton Bloom in the Norwegian Sea

Credit: NASA/Jeff Schmaltz

The waters off Iceland rank among the world's most productive fisheries.

The reason for the abundance is an ample supply of phytoplankton, the base of the marine food chain.

Like any plant, microscopic phytoplankton need sunlight and nutrients to survive.

Iceland's coastal waters offer both during the long days of summer.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) flying aboard NASA's Aqua satellite acquired this true-colour image of a large phytoplankton bloom in the Norwegian Sea, off of Iceland, on July 6, 2013.

The range of colors from milky blue to green suggests that a range of different species make up this bloom, most likely including diatoms and perhaps chalky white coccolithophores, says Sergion Signorini, and ocean scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Floating in the water, phytoplankton act like tracers, revealing the course of mixing currents and the swirling eddies where they clash.

A branch of the North Atlantic Current (the Gulf Stream) flows north, bringing warm Atlantic water to mix with the cold Arctic currents circling in from the east.

NASA MODIS Image: Springtime phytoplankton bloom in Bay of Biscay

Springtime in the Bay of Biscay, off the coast of France, as in most places, is a season of abundant growth.

On April 20, 2013, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured this true-color image of the dynamic growth of a springtime phytoplankton bloom.

The swirling colors indicate the presence of vast numbers of phytoplankton – tiny plant-like microorganisms that live in both fresh and salt water. 

Although these organisms live year-round in the Bay of Biscay, it is only when conditions are right that explosive blooms occur.

In spring, the lengthening sunlight, the increased nutrient load swept into the Bay from ocean currents and from snowmelt carried by freshwater rivers, combined with warming waters create the perfect conditions to spur phytoplankton in to tremendous growth. 

The result, a swirling, multi-hued discolouration that can be easily seen from space.

Each year, typically from March through April, such blooms occur in the Bay of Biscay. By May, however, conditions are not as favourable and the blooms fade, then disappear.

Image Credit: NASA GSFC

NASA Modis Image: Wildfire Blaze on Greek Island of Chios

In this image captured by a Nasa Earth Observation satellite, a thick plume of smoke from an intense wildfire on the Greek island of Chios can be seen drifting southward over the island of Crete

Picture: NASA

A major forest blaze broke out shortly after 2 am on Saturday morning, August 18, 2012, on the Greek eastern Aegean Sea island of Chios.

Hundreds of firefighters, soldiers and volunteers were struggling for a third day Monday (August 20) to tame a fire that burnt some 17,000 acres of forest, cultivated land and groves of the island's famed mastic trees.

Chios is famous for the production of mastic, a gum-like resin with a distinctive flavor produced only by trees on certain parts of the island.

It is used widely in confectionery, cooking and cosmetics and a major source of income.

Local authorities said many of the trees had been burned, while the island's beekeepers had also lost 60 percent of their hives.

Smoke from the blaze, which was swept on by gale-force winds, was carried as far as the southern island of Crete, more than 230 miles away.

Those gale-force winds are hampering efforts by about 360 firefighters, soldiers and volunteers, as well as firefighting planes, helicopters and 50 vehicles.

Residents of nine villages and hamlets evacuated their homes over the weekend as a precaution. This natural-color image was taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA's Aqua satellites on August 18, 2012.

NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC.