April 24, 2021 - Sunshine over Western Europe

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   Sunny skies accentuated the verdant spring beauty of Western Europe on
   April 23, 2021. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
   (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a stunning,
   cloud-free, true-color image centered on France on that same day.

   The darkest greens are created by coniferous forests, which retain
   their needles year-round. Deciduous forests, which are greening as
   leaves burst forth in the worming weather, are almost equally as dark
   as conifers. Agricultural lands and grasslands are painted in lighter
   greens. Large areas of human structures, such as cities and major
   roadways, are marked by gray pixels.

   The contrast in colors of the land cover can be illustrated by finding
   the relatively small, nearly-round very dark green area just north of
   center in this image. These greens are an area dominated by conifer
   forest. Moving north, an arc of lighter green colors an agricultural
   area that is often used for winter crops, but also supports spring
   cropping and pasture. If viewed at high resolution (250 meters), its
   easy to see a patchwork of tan (open land), light green (new crops) and
   darker greens (older crops/trees) which is typical of farmland. A
   smudge of gray sits north of the agricultural arc. This is the city of
   Paris, home to more than 11 million people and the capital of France.
   At higher resolutions you can see the Seine River flowing through the
   city of Paris as well as the surrounding countryside.

   Several European countries border France and can be seen in this image.
   Starting in the north and moving clockwise France borders: Belgium,
   Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, the Mediterranean Sea,
   Spain, Andorra, the Bay of Biscay, and—across the English Channel—the
   United Kingdom.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Terra
   Date Acquired: 4/23/2021
   Resolutions:  1km (2.4 MB),  500m (6.9 MB),  250m (5.3 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=2021-04-24
 
