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Iceland, dressed in winter white, peeked through a hole in a complex system of clouds in late February, 2015. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-colour image on February 21 as it passed over the region.

Ice and snow covers Iceland almost entirely, except for coastal regions in the southwest and southeast. The extensive, roughly H-shaped area in the southeast section of the island is Vatnajökull, Iceland’s largest glacier. Hidden underneath the ice lies Bardarbunga, a large subglacial stratovolcano. On 31 August 2014 the volcano began an eruption at two fissures to the north of the glacier and deposited a lava field that measured about 40 metres (131 feet) at its thickest points, and covered an area about 85 sq. km (33 sq. mi.) by the time the eruption ended on 27 February 2015. The massive lava flow left its mark on Iceland – the cooled lava can be seen as the roughly oval black area to the north of the Vatnajökull glacier.

Credit: NASA/GSFC/Jeff Schmaltz/MODIS Land Rapid Response Team

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