January 1, 2021 - Canada's Coast Mountain

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   Snow and clouds covered Canada’s Coast Mountains on December 28, 2020
   when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board
   NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a false-color image of the scene.

   The Coast Mountains run roughly parallel to the coastline of the
   Pacific Ocean, stretching from Yukon, Alaska (United States of America)
   to the Fraser River in southern British Colombia, Canada. They are part
   of the group called the “American Cordillera”, a nearly unbroken series
   of mountain ranges that run along the west of North America, Central
   America, South America, and even Antarctica.

   Snow blankets the Coast Mountains in winter, but snow can fall at
   nearly any time of the year in the highest peaks. By December, snow
   lies thick on the entire mountain range, and clouds are frequent. In
   these conditions, when white cloud overlies white snow, it can be
   difficult to distinguish between the two with true-color images.
   However, by using false-color (bands 7,2,1), cloud and snow are easy to
   tell apart. In this combination, vegetation appears bright green, deep
   water looks black, while snow appears electric blue. Cloud appears
   white, just as in true-color images, unless the clouds are very cold
   and contain ice crystals. In this case, the cloud will have an
   electric-blue tint. Low cloud (fog) typically has a light gray tint and
   sits within mountain valleys.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Terra
   Date Acquired: 12/28/2020
   Resolutions:  1km (490 KB),  500m (1.6 MB),  250m (5.1 MB)
   Bands Used: 7,2,1
   Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2021-01-01
 
