Earth from Space – Nushagak Bay, Alaska – SpaceRef

The advanced and various panorama that surrounds Nushagak Bay in Alaska is featured on this true-colour picture captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission on this weeks Earth from House characteristic.

Nushagak Bay is a big estuary overlaying over 100 sq km in southwest Alaska, US. The bay runs primarily north to south from the mouth of the Nushagak River earlier than exiting into Nushagak Bay – an inlet of Bristol Bay some 50 km southwards.

The bay is primarily fed by the Nushagak River (seen within the prime proper), which begins within the Alaska Vary and flows southwest roughly 450 km. The bay can be fed by a number of further rivers together with the Wooden, Igushik, Snake and Weary rivers.

This true-colour picture was captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission. The darkish colors of the Nushagak River are almost certainly attributable to tannins or lignins (chemical substances present in crops). Tannins and lignins from roots, leaves, seeds, bark and soil can leach into the water and provides it a brown and even black color. The sediments then move southwards the place it’s combined with the bluer waters of the bay.

The most important metropolis within the space is Dillingham, house to round 2000 individuals, and is surrounded by forests, shrublands, grasslands and mosses. The rivers, in addition to the lowlands round Nushagak Bay, are wealthy with deciduous bushes. The darkish purple areas alongside the bay are intertidal mud and sand flats. Should you zoom in to the picture, a white rim across the southern elements of the bay is seen. A number of thaw ponds will also be seen dotted across the picture.

Nushagak Bay is a vital staging and stopover website for dozens of migratory shorebird and waterfowl species, and it incorporates one of many largest and most pristine sockeye salmon fisheries on the planet.

Sentinel-2 carries a multispectral imager with a swath of 290 km. In addition to offering detailed details about Earth’s vegetation, Sentinel-2 is designed to play a key position in mapping variations in land cowl to grasp the panorama, map how it’s used and monitor modifications over time.