Lake Michigan   02/23/08

This image of Lake Michigan was captured by the MODIS on the Aqua satellite on February 23, 2008. The scene is wintery, with snow on the ground, and some ice in the lake, especially on the western side. There are some green swirls on the eastern shore, which are probably caused by a phytoplankton bloom or calcium carbonate (chalk) from the lake's limestone floor. Lake Michigan is part of the Great Lakes, which are a chain of freshwater lakes in mid-western North America, on the Canada-United States border.

Text and image courtesy of NASA's MODIS Land Rapid Response Team.