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One year ago, in late February 2000, the Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) began acquiring Earth imagery. Its “first light” images showed a frozen James Bay in the Ontario-Quebec region of Canada. These more recent nadir-camera views of the same area illuminate stark contrasts between summer and winter. The left-hand image was acquired on August 9, 2000, and the right-hand image is from January 16, 2001.

James Bay lies at the southern end of Hudson Bay. It is named for the English explorer Thomas James, who first explored the area in 1631 while searching for the Northwest Passage. Visible in these images are some of the many rivers that flow into the bay; starting at the southern tip and moving clockwise on the western side are the Harricana, Moose, Albany, and Attawapiskat. The latter enters the bay just to the west of the large, crescent-shaped Akimiski Island.

Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/JPL, MISR Team.