October 9, 2020 - Fall Colors in the Midwest

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   Fall Colors in the Midwest
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   Each autumn, as air temperatures begin to cool and daylight shorten,
   the summer-greens typical of most of the United States undergo a
   beautiful transformation. Leaves turn gorgeous colors—reds, oranges,
   and yellows—while summer crops turn golden and tan as harvest
   approaches. This transformation begins in the northern states and
   higher elevations as early as mid-September, then sweeps southward to
   completion by early November.

   On October 7, 2020, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
   (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of
   autumn colors in the Midwest.

   Four states surrounding Lake Michigan can be viewed in this image. From
   the northeast and moving clockwise, they are Michigan, Indiana,
   Illinois, and Wisconsin. Clusters of gray pixels mark the hands of
   human activity, especially in the cities of Chicago, Illinois which
   sits on the northwestern shores of Lake Michigan and, moving north
   along the shoreline, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

   Wisconsin and Michigan typically see some of the earliest leaf color
   change in the United States, with peak foliage expected in late
   September through the first days of October. Peak bloom in northern
   Indiana and Illinois tends to run about a week later.

   According to local leaf reports, the leaf transformation seems to be
   running a little behind schedule in many areas this year and this is
   also suggested by the remaining greens in many of the more forested
   regions. However, copious golds and oranges across the scene, including
   in forested regions, highlight that the leaf-change season is well
   underway even if running slightly late.

   Much of the color in this image most likely comes from agricultural
   fields. Indiana and Illinois both lie well within the Corn Belt, the
   area with the highest corn production in the United States. Drives
   through either state will take you through miles and miles of waving
   green corn stalks in the summer – and these stalks turn gorgeous amber
   in the fall. While drying corn stalks don’t have the wide color
   variation of autumn leaves, they paint a beautiful golden palette
   across the Midwest in early autumn.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Terra
   Date Acquired: 10/7/2020
   Resolutions:  1km (158.2 KB),  500m (573.8 KB),  250m (1.7 MB)
   Bands Used: 1,4,3
   Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2020-10-09
 
