Some people look up at clouds and see an elephant; some satellites look down at ice and spot a smiley face. 😊 This friendly pattern of cobalt blue water – toward the bottom of this satellite image, left of center – formed as snow and ice melted on the surface of the Greenland ice sheet earlier this summer. Melt ponds typically begin to dot the edges of the ice sheet in the spring, growing and occasionally connecting in a network of bright blue rivers and pools. The ponded water can drain through cracks in the ice sheet, and if it reaches bedrock at the base of the ice sheet can temporarily speed up the flow of ice toward the coast. This true-color image was taken by the Landsat 9 satellite as it passed over western Greenland on July 2, 2025. Have a (n)ice day! Image description: Bright blue pools of water dot the white background of the Greenland ice sheet. There are some irregular shaped larger pools that are filled with water, but most of the features in the image appear a...