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Canada Centre for Remote Sensing
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Rankin Inlet, Nunavut
Larger, more detailed
image here: 140kb jpg
You would probably not guess that this Landsat TM image,
which shows ice floes still present in
the waters of Rankin Inlet, was recorded in early July! The
community of Rankin Inlet, on the west
coast of Hudson Bay, is some 515 kilometres north of Churchill,
Manitoba. This false-colour image
reveals the undisturbed arctic tundra in shades of red while the
many lakes and ponds are black. A river emptying into the Inlet is
creating a delta. Features like roads and the small air strip are easy to identify as they have
disturbed the tundra vegetation.
Question: Why is the ice represented in varying shades of white
and grey?
[
Answer ]
About this Image
| Location: |
Rankin Inlet, Nunavut |
| NTS map(s): |
55 K/16 (1/50:000) |
Location Map:  |
See a detailed map (1:1M) of the region |
| Image Date: |
July 4, 1994 |
| Satellites/Sensors: |
Landsat Thematic Mapper, Bands 4,3,2
(as R, G, B) |
| Resolution: |
30 m pixels |
| Image Area: |
21km by 21km |
| Image Features: |
Arctic, sea ice, river delta, air
field, community of Rankin Inlet, roads, clearings |
| Related Tour Images: |
Mackenzie
Delta, Northwest Territories |
| Related Glossary Terms: |
These terms from the CCRS Glossary
may help you to understand this image and its interpretation:
false colour,
plant
reflectance, tone, colour composite
|
| Related Tutorial Sections: |
These sections of the "Fundamentals
of Remote Sensing" tutorial by CCRS will help you
to better understand this image and its interpretation:
2.8 2.12 4.2 5.7
|
| Image Credits: |
Received by the Canada Centre for
Remote Sensing
Processed by and provided courtesy of RADARSAT International
Inc. |
|
Additional
Information: |
North of the tree-line, this
landscape is very different as compared to areas further south,
supporting only tundra vegetation (dwarf shrubs, sedges, lichen and
heath). This Landsat TM band combination of 4, 3, 2, (R,G,B) is
often used for land cover mapping, since the vegetation varieties
can be shown clearly as changing tones and colours. In this image,
however, the contrast and brightness enhancements have been
optimized for showing the details in the ice. As a result, the
other features (e.g. vegetation) suffer, and show little
variability. A single image can be enhanced in a variety of ways in
order to optimize different features.
Rankin Inlet is located at the end of the Kudlulik Peninsula.
The large lake just north of the air strip is Nipissak Lake. The
town lies between Prairie Bay and Melvin Bay. The Barrier Islands
are the large, long set of islands to the south west of the town
stretching out into the Inlet. Rankin Inlet is part of the new
Territory of Nunavut as the Northwest Territories splits into
two.
|
| Question: |
Why is the ice represented in varying
shades of white and grey? |
| Answer: |
By early July, the ice is in an
advanced state of melt and decay. The waters of Hudson Bay are
typically ice-free from late July to the end of September. The
brightest areas indicate thicker ice, possibly with wet snow cover,
where strong reflection is occurring. The dark grey edges of the
ice floes indicate very thin, slushy ice, where the light
absorption properties of the water underneath the ice are
strong. |
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