Image of the Week - Tides in the Bay of Fundy

The Bay of Fundy in Canada has a unique geography funneling the Atlantic Ocean into some of the world's highest tides. At some points the water level can rise and fall over forty feet. The water's edge at Minas Basin shown in these Landsat 8 images changes dramatically depending on the day and time. Because Landsat 8 passes over quickly, the imagery cannot reveal the continuous progression of any single tide event. However, tidal movement can be simulated by resequencing the data like this. Intertidal zones can then be mapped with this technique. In the north, Shepody Bay also experiences substantial tidal changes, and again when imagery from Landsat's deep archive is rearranged, it's possible to generate a simulated flood and ebb cycle, in this case pulling back from the high water line almost 2 miles. Tools like Earth Explorer open the entire Landsat archive to everyone interested in studying tides across the globe.