Fall Foliage: NASA Image of the Week

Clear skies reveal tones of Autumn's glorious colors across the Northeastern United States and parts of eastern Canada.

Seasonal hues of yellow and orange were spreading across the northeastern United States when NASA’s Terra satellite passed overhead at midday on October 12, 2008.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor captured the image to the right, which clearly reveals the extent of fall foliage from the Canadian Maritime provinces to the Appalachian Mountains.

Nearly cloud-free skies allowed all of the rich tapestry of autumn to be seen across the region, especially in the popular destination for fall foliage tours of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

Higher elevations that had already been touched by frosty nights appear in various shades of orange.

But, it still remained green at the lower elevations, where early October nights had yet to become very cool.

Also visible in the image are the gray hues of the expansive metropolitan sprawls of New York City, Providence and Boston. They appear in contrast to the surrounding natural vegetation.

Full story and image: NASA