Spring is coming with the flowers and first trees starting to blossom here – at the same time light is returning to the Arctic after the winter. Calling this spring is an exaggeration but here is one of the first glimpses of Landsat 8 to the high Arctic in 2014.

The image shows the Jones Sound between Ellesmere Island and Devon Island in northern Canada – the following map shows where that is (in different map projection, north is to the right on the map).

The Sea is mostly covered by ice but an ice free area has formed in the east towards Baffin Bay. Since the Ocean is much warmer than the air at this time of the year the water is "steaming" creating clouds which are carried to the southeast by the wind. You can also see that fresh sea ice is forming on the open water when it gets in contact with the cold air. This is more clearly visible in the following crop.