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Summary
| Description |
Based on its northerly location—above the Arctic Circle and just 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) from the North Pole—the remote Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard seems like it should be a barren land of snow, ice, and rock. However, the West Spitsbergen Current brings a relatively warm stream of water from the south into the fjords and inlets of western Svalbard. This warm water moderates the climate enough that coastal areas and certain valleys witness an explosion of green in the summer. In contrast, a cool ocean current moving south keeps the eastern coasts of Svalbard’s islands cold and snowy even during the summer. The pair of images above, acquired by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8, illustrate the dramatic summer greening. The upper image shows the Reindalen Valley on July 9, 2015 The dark green areas near the lakes in the lower parts of the image are wetlands, which are dominated by Fisher’s Tundragrass (Dupontia fisheri) and White Cottongrass (Eriophorum scheuchzeri). Patches of peat moss, rare in other parts of Svalbard, are also present in the wetlands. The lighter green areas are mostly tundra heath made up largely of Northern Woodrush (Luzula confusa) and Polar Willow (Salix polaris). The gray areas below the snow line are rocky areas with minimal vegetation, though Svalbard poppy (Papver dahlianum) and some other species are present in small numbers. In total, Svalbard is home to 178 vascular plant species, 390 moss species, 708 lichen species, and more than 750 fungi species. |
| Date | |
| Source | https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/86468/using-satellites-to-study-svalbards-growing-season |
| Author | NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey and NDVI data from Karlsen et al. (2014). Caption by Adam Voiland. |
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This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.) |  |
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| Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| current | 05:29, 12 March 2021 | | 3,000 × 3,000 (9.13 MB) | StellarHalo | {{Information |Description=Based on its northerly location—above the Arctic Circle and just 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) from the North Pole—the remote Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard seems like it should be a barren land of snow, ice, and rock. However, the West Spitsbergen Current brings a relatively warm stream of water from the south into the fjords and inlets of western Svalbard. This warm water moderates the climate enough that coastal areas and certain valleys witness an explosion of... |
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