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   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   December 19, 2022 - North Caspian Ice-up   
      
      Ice on the Caspian Sea   
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      On December 16, 2022, winter ice-up of the North Caspian Sea was nearly   
      completed, thanks to rapidly falling temperatures in the closing days   
      of autumn.   
      
      This pair of true-color images captured by the Moderate Resolution   
      Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite only   
      fifteen days apart illustrates the fast-forming ice. The upper image,   
      acquired on December 16, reveals the entire area almost entirely   
      ice-covered, with only small windows of open water visible. The lower   
      image, acquired on December 1, shows only a thin layer of ice floating   
      near the white mineral-encrusted shoreline.   
      
      The Caspian Sea, with a total surface area spanning about 143,200   
      square miles (371,000 square kilometers), is considered to be Earth’s   
      largest inland water body. There are three distinct sections of the   
      Caspian Sea, and, despite cold, harsh winter temperatures across much   
      of the region, only the extremely shallow North Caspian freezes over.   
      The Middle Caspian transitions from the 4-5 meters (20 feet) depth of   
      the North to about 190 meters (620 feet) before it reaches the South   
      Caspian, where depths plunge to about 1,000 meters (3,300 feet).   
      
      Life in the north has adapted to harsh winter temperatures and the   
      thick layer of ice that forms by January and stays until March. While   
      commercial fishery, shipping, and oil production continues in the   
      open-water regions, it’s here, in the frozen North, where seals come to   
      raise their pups on the winter’s ice.   
      
      The Caspian seal is the smallest of the eared seals and the only marine   
      mammal found in the Caspian Sea. It has listed as Endangered by the   
      International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since 2008. In   
      the 1930s, the seals were so numerous that many thousands were   
      harvested each year, primarily for blubber and for the soft white fur   
      of the pups. The current exact population is unknown, but best   
      estimates are that about 70,000 remain. While active hunting has   
      stopped, the seal population is still gravely at risk from many   
      dangers, including fishing operations, diseases such as highly-fatal   
      canine distemper, invasive jellyfish, and pollution. On December 5,   
      approximately 2,500 dead Caspian seals washed up on the coastline of   
      the Republic of Dagestan, Russia (located on the western coast and   
      south of this image). The cause is being investigated, but authorities   
      believe it to be “natural” and not from fishing or direct human   
      activity.   
      
      Image Facts   
      Satellite:  Terra   
      Date Acquired: 12/16/2022   
      Resolutions:  1km (167 KB),  500m (469.5 KB),  250m (285.1 KB)   
      Bands Used: 1,4,3   
      Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC   
      
      
      
   https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2022-12-19   
       
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