Ice Routes in Finland Revealed by Landsat (Image of the Week)

USGS
USGS
6,865
0
Published 2024-03-04
Cloud-free satellite views of Lake Saimaa in Finland are rare in January. But this Landsat 9 scene, captured on January 4th, reveals over 200 miles of winter shipping lanes. The water vapor from 3 large wood pulp factories can be seen on this shoreline. One is located in Lappeenranta, where the ice route begins.

Icebreakers in Finland often keep shipping lanes open through November and December, or until the ice is too thick to break. This route leads north, winding through the coniferous forest of Finland's “Lakeland”. Savonlinna is the home port of at least one local icebreaker, TYRSKY, which appears to be in winter layup as of January 3rd.

Icebreaking activity north along the route is still visible. Here, the route splits near Linnansaari National Park. One branch leads northwest, eventually reaching Varkaus, where another wood mill is visible. The east branch of the route continues on toward Joensuu. Here the route passes through Lake Paasselkä, a deep lake over an ancient impact crater. The frozen lane continues north. This scene ends before the ice route's destination: Joensuu, Finland, but we can see the remainder in a previous capture from 2020.

On January 20th, Landsat 9 captured a new scene, showing that the route has been frozen over until spring. The Landsat archive is used in Finland, and around the world to monitor seasonal changes like these.
----
USGS video: www.usgs.gov/media/videos/image-week-ice-routes-fi…
---
Credits:
Music track licensed via SoundStripe:
“Journey Into a New World” by Adam Saban
app.soundstripe.com/songs/15114
"3 FREEZER MOTORS.MP3" (freesound.org/s/136697/) by tubbers licensed under CC0 1.0.
"Cracking" (freesound.org/s/316603/) by IJerry2595I licensed under CC0 1.0.
"Ice cracking_northern87" (freesound.org/s/369982/) by northern87 licensed under CC0 1.0.
"ship engine.wav" (freesound.org/s/253606/) by monotraum licensed under CC0 1.0.
"waves_1.wav" (freesound.org/s/241824/) by haldigital97 licensed under CC01.0.
"waves and cargoship" (freesound.org/s/406333/) by Slowmote licensed under CC0 1.0.
All Comments (17)
  • @AndrewPolich
    Now I want the timelapse video from the observation deck of the ice breaker!
  • @pinyonrice
    It's very interesting to me how neat and straight the paths made by the icebreakers are. Super cool! :)
  • @JuhaVeijalainen
    Thank you! I did not remember that lakes have icebreakers, too. Surprising how visible the shipping lanes are
  • @tiffanyandtheshihtsu
    Stunning! Tough people in Finland ❤ Really cool satellite images 😊😊😊
  • @trudy285
    I watch a channel from Finland that feeds wildlife. So this has been helpful information regarding some of their lifestyle. Thank you for sharing this video! Brightest Blessings! ☺️✌️❤️🦋🙏
  • @lmrandlette
    I wonder what ships make use of the ice~free lanes during winter months? The transit would take a significant amount of time.
  • @jeremyandrew4564
    full volume in the dune 2 theater ppl are loving this!!! keep it up!