Landsat 9 Sees Ice at the Apostle Islands

The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore encompasses 69,372 acres, of which 27,323 acres are submerged lands in Lake Superior. This unique collection of islands became a designated National Lakeshore on September 26, 1970. There are no roads or vehicle access to any of the 21 islands within the National Lakeshore. Madeline Island is the only exception as it is not part of the National Lakeshore. 

As written on https://www.nps.gov/apis/learn/historyculture/park-history.htm, the purpose of the lakeshore is “to conserve and develop for the benefit, inspiration, education, recreational use, and enjoyment of the public certain significant islands and shoreline of the United States.” 

This Landsat 9 image, acquired in March, shows icy waters starting to dissolve into Lake Superior. An interesting path can be seen between Bayfield, Wisconsin and Madeline Island - during seasons of open water, ferries serve this route multiple times each day. When the weather becomes colder and the water starts solidifying, a windsled is used until the ice road is considered safe enough for cars and light trucks to travel. The windsled is used again in the spring when the road is deemed unworthy of travel but the lake ice is too thick for the ferries to cut through.

Visit the Landsat Missions Web Site to learn more about how Landsat imagery is useful to land managers and others interested in shorelines. 

Landsat 9 

Path 26 Row 27 - March 5, 2023

Bands 7/5/1