How Often Do Satellites Document Glacier Retreat? A Look at Imaging Frequency from April to September

With climate change accelerating glacier melt, satellite monitoring has become a vital tool for tracking environmental shifts. A remote sensing satellite captures images of glacier retreat every 12 days—providing a consistent, reliable dataset that reveals subtle changes over time. Now, a key question emerges: how many images are captured between April 1 and September 30, inclusive, in a single year?

Understanding satellite imaging schedules helps clarify real-world data availability. For this analysis, a remote sensing satellite operating on a 12-day cycle captures one image every 12 days, with no gaps in between. From April 1 to September 30—125 days total—this recurring pattern allows for a straightforward calculation: how many full 12-day intervals fit in this window?

Understanding the Context

The answer: 10 images.
With the cycle