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September 18, 2024 - First Fall Colors in the Midwestern United States
September 16, 2024
August 22, 2024
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This sweeping view of the northern Midwestern United States showed the first glimpse of fall colors in mid-September 2024. The image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on September 16, 2024. A second Terra MODIS image of the same area was acquired on August 22, 2024. Clicking on the dates allows comparing the two images and the change in the colors that have occurred over the three-week period.
Each autumn, as temperatures drop and daylight shortens, vegetation responds to the changing conditions. The most well-known transformation the show put on by deciduous trees as they lose chlorophyll, the molecule that plants use to synthesize food. Chlorophyll makes plants appear green and it needs to be continually produced in order for the plant to stay green. Production of chlorophyll requires warm air temperatures and adequate daylight, so as chlorophyll wanes during autumn, the color of other pigments in the leaves shine through. This creates a gorgeous show of yellows, greens, oranges, and reds.
While the changing leaves are dramatic, a similar process occurs in grasses and many other plants, including most plants that are grown for food or pasture. As cool weather and short daylight comes, crops such as corn, soybean, and wheat lose chlorophyll to turn yellow or tan. Some pasture grasses also take on a tan hue. Most crops are more cold-sensitive than deciduous trees and respond to the changing seasons earlier.
This image primarily captures the first wave of fall color across southern Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio near Lake Michigan (west) and Lake Erie (east). The broad swath of color lies across an area rich in agriculture and relatively poor in forest. The timing is also perfect for the fading of crops and pasture (a phenomenon called senescence), but early for the widespread appearance of leaf color. According to several state-centered guides to “leaf-peeping” (tourism driven by people wanting to view spectacular fall colors), the first colors in this region typically begin in the forests of northern Michigan in late September before sweeping southward. The “Fall Color Tour” on The Upper Peninsula website states that, as of September 17, leaf colors are “spotty”, with peak color expected the first or second week of October.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 9/16/2024
Resolutions:
1km (146.4 KB), 500m (397.1 KB), 250m (1 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
September 16, 2024 August 22, 2024
This sweeping view of the northern Midwestern United States showed the first glimpse of fall colors in mid-September 2024. The image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on September 16, 2024. A second Terra MODIS image of the same area was acquired on August 22, 2024. Clicking on the dates allows comparing the two images and the change in the colors that have occurred over the three-week period.
Each autumn, as temperatures drop and daylight shortens, vegetation responds to the changing conditions. The most well-known transformation the show put on by deciduous trees as they lose chlorophyll, the molecule that plants use to synthesize food. Chlorophyll makes plants appear green and it needs to be continually produced in order for the plant to stay green. Production of chlorophyll requires warm air temperatures and adequate daylight, so as chlorophyll wanes during autumn, the color of other pigments in the leaves shine through. This creates a gorgeous show of yellows, greens, oranges, and reds.
While the changing leaves are dramatic, a similar process occurs in grasses and many other plants, including most plants that are grown for food or pasture. As cool weather and short daylight comes, crops such as corn, soybean, and wheat lose chlorophyll to turn yellow or tan. Some pasture grasses also take on a tan hue. Most crops are more cold-sensitive than deciduous trees and respond to the changing seasons earlier.
This image primarily captures the first wave of fall color across southern Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio near Lake Michigan (west) and Lake Erie (east). The broad swath of color lies across an area rich in agriculture and relatively poor in forest. The timing is also perfect for the fading of crops and pasture (a phenomenon called senescence), but early for the widespread appearance of leaf color. According to several state-centered guides to “leaf-peeping” (tourism driven by people wanting to view spectacular fall colors), the first colors in this region typically begin in the forests of northern Michigan in late September before sweeping southward. The “Fall Color Tour” on The Upper Peninsula website states that, as of September 17, leaf colors are “spotty”, with peak color expected the first or second week of October.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 9/16/2024
Resolutions:
1km (146.4 KB), 500m (397.1 KB), 250m (1 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
