MSGID: 1:317/3 62f543a9   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   August 11, 2022 - Southern Patagonian Ice Field   
      
      Southern Patagonian   
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      The vast Patagonian icefields ride atop South America’s Andes   
      Mountains, straddling the border between Chile (west) and Argentina   
      (east). Divided into two long lobes, the North and South Patagonian   
      icefields, they are dramatically expansive, but have been shrinking.   
      The icefields reached maximum size about 18,000 years ago and have very   
      slowly shrunken to their current size. Today the Southern Patagonian   
      icefield measures about 13,000 square kilometers (5,020 square miles),   
      about three times the size of the Northern icefield. Altogether, the   
      icy area spans about 17,333 square kilometers (6,692 square miles)—that   
      is just a bit smaller than the U.S. state of New Jersey.   
      
      On August 5, 2022, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer   
      (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a false-color image of   
      the Southern Patagonia icefield. Such expansive views of the icy region   
      are rare, thanks to the frequent clouds that cover the southern Andes.   
      
      This type of false-color image combines infrared and visible light   
      (MODIS bands 7-2-1) to highlight snow and ice, which appear bright   
      electric blue. Vegetation looks green and open Earth, or areas with   
      little vegetation, are colored in tans and brown. Water may appear deep   
      blue or black and cloud often appears white, although high, cold cloud   
      that contains ice will be tinted in electric blue. With these colors,   
      it is easy to see snow across the Andes as well on the Argentinian   
      Pampas to the east. Glaciers are solid stretches of ice, often topped   
      with substantial snow in the wintertime, and stand out against the   
      snow. On the eastern side of the Andes, numerous glacial lakes, filled   
      with water from melting glaciers, extend from the edge of the Andes   
      eastward.   
      
      Although it has taken thousands of years for the Patagonian icefields   
      to shrink to their current size, like most glaciers around the world,   
      the Southern Patagonian icefield has been retreating more quickly   
      recently in the face of rising atmospheric and ocean temperatures.   
      According to the University of Maine Climate Change Institute, the   
      Southern Patagonian Icefield is particularly susceptible to a changing   
      climate because of its relative proximity to the equator and because it   
      is made up of low-elevation alpine and tidewater glaciers that are   
      highly sensitive to changes in temperature and precipitation.   
      
      Image Facts   
      Satellite:  Terra   
      Date Acquired: 8/5/2022   
      Resolutions:  1km (1 MB),  500m (2.8 MB),  250m (1.9 MB)   
      Bands Used: 7,2,1   
      Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC   
      
      
      
   https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2022-08-11   
       
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