Bay of Fundy - NASA image of the day from space!

Here's an up-to-date satellite image of the Bay of Fundy from space: taken just two days ago. You can practically see the grass growing! Every day NASA selects a favourite satellite image to post on their website; it was the lovely springtime Bay of Fundy this week.

We're all getting quite used to seeing satellite images (especially since the invention of Google Earth). However, NASA (through the MODIS program) was probably the first to get such photos out into general cirulation in the early days of the internet.

MODIS (or Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) is a key instrument aboard the Terra and Aqua satellites. Terra's orbit around the Earth is timed so that it passes from north to south across the equator in the morning, while Aqua passes south to north over the equator in the afternoon. This means that Terra MODIS and Aqua MODIS are viewing the entire Earth's surface every 1 to 2 days acquiring data.

MODIS plays a vital role in the development of global, interactive Earth system models able to predict global change accurately enough to assist policy makers with making sound decisions regarding the protection of our environment.