Earth from Space - Image Information


LOCATION Direction Photo #: ISS062-E-44966 Date: Feb. 2020
Geographic Region: USA-MICHIGAN
Feature: GREAT LAKES, CANADA, LAKE SUPERIOR, LAKE HURON, LAKE ERIE, LAKE ONTARIO, KEWEENAW PENINSULA, STRAITS OF MACKINAC, GREEN BAY, SAULT STE. MARIE


 
Great Lakes Without Winter Ice

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) took this oblique photograph of the Great Lakes in late winter. The international border between Canada and the United States snakes down the middle of lakes Superior, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. The spike of land jutting into Lake Superior is the Keweenaw Peninsula, the northern tip of Michigan's Upper Peninsula (which you can also see here).

From late February to early March in most years, the winter cold freezes much of the surface area of the lakes. However, almost no ice is visible on any of the lakes in this view from February 21, 2020, except for a small accumulation around the Straits of Mackinac. The 22 percent ice cover at that point was significantly lower than the long-term average of 55 percent, and one of the lowest percentages on record.

Small towns are difficult to see under snow, but you can make out Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Lake-effect snow appears "downwind" of Lake Michigan (on the lower peninsula of Michigan) and downwind of Lake Huron in Ontario.


Further Reading

  • NASA Earth Observatory (2018, October 7) Sining Light on the Upper Peninsula.


  • Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 428k
    Mission: ISS062  
    Roll - Frame: E - 44966
    Geographical Name: USA-MICHIGAN  
    Features: GREAT LAKES, CANADA, LAKE SUPERIOR, LAKE HURON, LAKE ERIE, LAKE ONTARIO, KEWEENAW PENINSULA, STRAITS OF MACKINAC, GREEN BAY, SAULT STE. MARIE  
    Center Lat x Lon: 45.5N x 85W
    Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
    Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 10
     
    Camera:: N8
     
    Camera Tilt: HO   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
    Camera Focal Length: 50  
     
    Nadir to Photo Center Direction: E   The direction from the nadir to the center point, N=North, S=South, E=East, W=West
    Stereo?:   Y=Yes there is an adjacent picture of the same area, N=No there isn't
    Orbit Number:  
     
    Date: 20200221   YYYYMMDD
    Time: 173408   GMT HHMMSS
    Nadir Lat: 49.4N  
    Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
    Nadir Lon: 96.7W  
    Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
    Sun Azimuth: 161   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
    Space Craft Altitude: 224   nautical miles
    Sun Elevation: 28   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
    Land Views: PENINSULA  
    Water Views: BAY, ICE, LAKE  
    Atmosphere Views:  
    Man Made Views:  
    City Views: ERIE, GREEN BAY, ONTARIO, READING, SAULT STE. MARIE, SUPERIOR  

    Photo is not associated with any sequences


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