Satellite imagery shows seasonal changes to American deciduous forests from space.
If you find yourself on an airplane flight this fall, don’t forget to look out the window. Colorful fall foliage is sweeping across forests and shrublands across the Northern Hemisphere.
On the morning of October 28, 2019, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this view of criss-crossing contrails hovering over a stretch of the Appalachian Mountains in Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia. Many of the forests were near peak color.
The mix of tree species in eastern deciduous forests make for varied and colorful displays of fall foliage. Ash, beech, and poplar leaves turn yellow; red maples, sumac, and dogwood tend toward red; and leaves of oaks often become brown.
Leaves change colors as they lose chlorophyll, the molecule that plants use to synthesize food.
Continue reading at NASA Earth Observatory
Image via NASA Earth Observatory
