MSGID: 1:317/3 627410da   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   May 5, 2022 - Yukon Delta Wildlife Refuge   
      
      Yukon Delta   
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      Despite springtime’s lengthening daylight, most of Alaska’s Yukon Delta   
      National Wildlife Refuge retains a late-winter appearance as the major   
      rivers, lakes and wetlands remain coated with ice in early May 2022.   
      The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board   
      NASA's Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of an icy spring day   
      on the refuge on May 3.   
      
      Nighttime low temperatures have been staying below freezing in late   
      April and early May this year, but with daylight temperatures   
      consistently rising about 10˚F above freezing across most of the   
      refuge, ice breakup across the refuge will soon begin. In most years,   
      ice breakup begins in late April or May and is completed by late May.   
      
      The Yukon River originates in British Columbia, Canada, and flows   
      through Yukon Territory before entering the U.S. state of Alaska. As   
      the Yukon River nears the Bering Sea, it spreads out in braided   
      meanders, creating a vast delta in the low-lying coastal tundra plain.   
      In the south, the meanders of the Kuskokwim River add to the wetlands   
      of the Yukon Delta. The meanders of the two major rivers feed a   
      multitude of channels, coastal ponds, lakes, and wetland, creating a   
      unique environment that is important and vital habitat for waterfowl,   
      migratory, and breeding birds as well as provides critical spawning   
      habitat for Pacific salmon species. The coastal waters are home to a   
      variety of marine mammals, including whales that swim through the   
      Bering Sea during migration. In the drier uplands, animals such as   
      bear, caribou, moose, wolves and muskox thrive.   
      
      The Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge spans 19.16 million acres   
      (77,500 square km), making it the second-largest National Wildlife   
      Refuge in the United States (the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is the   
      largest). The importance of preserving this delta and adjacent lands of   
      southwestern Alaska was first officially recognized when President   
      Theodore Roosevelt first created refuge lands in the area in 1909. In   
      1980, President Jimmy Carter signed the Alaska National Interest Lands   
      Conservation Act into law, which consolidated existing refuges, added   
      more protected lands, and created the Yukon Delta National Wildlife   
      Reserve.   
      
      Not only is the Yukon Delta an important home for wildlife, it is one   
      of the most populated rural areas in Alaska, with over 50 Indigenous   
      communities. As the ancestral home of the Yup’ik, Cup’ik, and Deg   
      Xit'an people of Alaska, this is a region rich in culture, where   
      residents depend on the wildland, waters, and wildlife to support an   
      active subsistence way of life. Unlike many wildlife refuges, which   
      focus solely on the wildlife and habitat within their boundaries, goals   
      of the Yukon Delta Wildlife Refuge focus not only on conserving fish   
      and wildlife populations and their habitats in their natural diversity,   
      but also to provide the opportunity for continued subsistence uses by   
      local residents.   
      
      Image Facts   
      Satellite:  Terra   
      Date Acquired: 5/3/2022   
      Resolutions:  1km (191.6 KB),  500m (591.9 KB),  250m (1.6 MB)   
      Bands Used: 1,4,3   
      Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC   
      
      
      
   https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2022-05-05   
       
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