This amazing mosaic of the Arctic near the north-pole in the summer was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra on June 30, 2011.
The image is a true-colour image and is pieced together using multiple different images to give a full circumpolar image. The polar ice cap appears blue-white, while the ice covering land appears as a bright white. In the lower left (the southwest) is the ice of Greenland, while the North Pole is found roughly near the centre of this image, in the middle of the ice-covered Arctic Ocean northeast off the coast of Greenland.
The lands surrounding the Arctic Ocean belong to several countries. Russia extends from the northeast section of the image all the way to the southeast corner, where the White Sea is ice-free and the green land of Russian summer can be seen. Moving westward, the land belongs to Finland, Sweden and Norway. The Gulf of Bothnia lies between Finland and Norway.
In the southwest section of the image, the small island of Iceland is only half-covered in ice. The large ice-covered island of Greenland lies to the west. Greenland is an autonomous country belonging to the Kingdom of Denmark.
The western section of the image is filled with the archipelago of islands belonging to Canada, as well as the Canadian Mainland. In the northwest, the state of Alaska, United States, is blanketed with clouds.
Source: NASA Goddard Space and Flight