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Hunting Red Leaves with Satellites

✇NASA Breaking News
26 October 2026 at 00:01
September 29 to October 4
October 5 to 11

A map depicts vegetated parts of Earth's land surfaces from September 29 to October 4. Vegetation color is depicted on a spectrum ranging from dark green to light yellow to dark red. The largest patches of red vegetation appear in Alaska, northern Canada, Mongolia, and Russia. Smaller patches of red are visible in Australia.
A map depicts vegetated parts of Earth’s land surfaces from September 29 to October 4. Vegetation color is depicted on a spectrum ranging from dark green to light yellow to dark red. The largest patches of red vegetation appear in Alaska, northern Canada, Mongolia, and Russia. Smaller patches of red are visible in Australia.
NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin

A similar global map depicts the redness of vegetation from October 5 to 11. The reddest areas have shifted equatorward, with more color visible in the Mid-Atlantic, the U.S. Southeast, southern Russia, China, and Mongolia.
A similar global map depicts the redness of vegetation from October 5 to 11. The reddest areas have shifted equatorward, with more color visible in the Mid-Atlantic, the U.S. Southeast, southern Russia, China, and Mongolia.
NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin

A map depicts vegetated parts of Earth's land surfaces from September 29 to October 4. Vegetation color is depicted on a spectrum ranging from dark green to light yellow to dark red. The largest patches of red vegetation appear in Alaska, northern Canada, Mongolia, and Russia. Smaller patches of red are visible in Australia.
A map depicts vegetated parts of Earth’s land surfaces from September 29 to October 4. Vegetation color is depicted on a spectrum ranging from dark green to light yellow to dark red. The largest patches of red vegetation appear in Alaska, northern Canada, Mongolia, and Russia. Smaller patches of red are visible in Australia.
NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin
A similar global map depicts the redness of vegetation from October 5 to 11. The reddest areas have shifted equatorward, with more color visible in the Mid-Atlantic, the U.S. Southeast, southern Russia, China, and Mongolia.
A similar global map depicts the redness of vegetation from October 5 to 11. The reddest areas have shifted equatorward, with more color visible in the Mid-Atlantic, the U.S. Southeast, southern Russia, China, and Mongolia.
NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin

September 29 to October 4

October 5 to 11


These maps show the redness of vegetation as measured by the OCI (Ocean Color Instrument) on the PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) satellite in September and October 2026. Red foliage appears to peak in New England, northern Canada, and northern Russia from September 29 to October 4, then spreads southward into the Mid-Atlantic, Mongolia, and northern China from October 5 to 11 (right).

The Japanese tradition of momijigari, or “red leaf hunting,” stretches back more than a millennium, as evidenced by ancient poems describing journeys to admire fall foliage. In America, mentions of foliage trips began appearing in the historical record in the 19th century, around the time artists and poets such as Frederic Church and Emily Dickinson celebrated autumn color in depictions of the Northeast.

Modern-day leaf peepers have a new way to track and savor the seasonal phenomenon. The hyperspectral OCI (Ocean Color Instrument) on NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) satellite observes the planet’s oceans and vegetation daily at 286 spectral bands. Among this array are a few groups of wavelengths that allow scientists to track subtle changes in leaf pigments key to fall foliage displays, including anthocyanins (reds), carotenoids (yellows and oranges), and chlorophylls (greens).

NASA scientists can track fall color by measuring how much red, orange, and yellow forests show compared with green. Tracking the ratio over time reveals where leaves are changing and when color peaks. The maps above show vegetation “redness” from September 29 to October 4 (left) and October 5 to 11 (right). Areas shown in green have values near 1, meaning the satellite detects about as much red as green, and most leaves have not yet turned. Areas shown in light yellow and red have higher values, indicating progressively more red pigment relative to green.

The satellite detected particularly high levels of redness in parts of northern and eastern Russia, northern Alaska, and northern Canada from September 29 to October 4. In New England and upstate New York, redness began to fade during the week of October 5 to 11, even as it spread across much of the Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic. (Not all the yellows and reds on the maps represent fall colors. Crops in some agricultural areas, for instance, show high anthocyanin levels as they age and after they are harvested. Also, in some regions, clouds produce what appear to be gaps in the vegetation.)

Seeing Red in Vermont

Many of the reddest areas—such as the Adirondacks in New York, the Green Mountains in Vermont, and the White Mountains in New Hampshire—have large numbers of sugar maples (Acer saccharum) and red maples (Acer rubrum), deciduous trees that turn a brilliant shade of crimson in the fall. Blueberries, bilberries, sedges, mosses, and grasses likely contribute to the intense reds detected in marshy tundra areas in northern Alaska, Canada, and Russia.

Ridges and mountains in a forested area appear orange, while river valleys and lower-elevation areas are still green.
Red and orange hues cover the forested ridges of central Vermont, while river valleys and lower-elevation areas are still green. The OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 9 captured this image on October 3, 2026.
NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin

The OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 9 captured an image (above) of intensely red foliage around Ripton, Vermont, on October 3, 2026, around the peak of redness in the region. Poet Robert Frost, author of “October,” “The Road Not Taken,” “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” and several other poems that evoke fall foliage, kept a summer home and farm in Ripton and taught at Middlebury’s Bread Loaf School of English.

Some other satellites with hyperspectral sensors can measure fall foliage pigments in a way that is similar to PACE, but only in more localized areas and less frequently. PACE is the first satellite capable of measuring all three key leaf pigments—anthocyanins, carotenoids, and chlorophylls—across the entire planet every day or two.

“It’s the ability to collect time-series data of anthocyanins and carotenoids everywhere on Earth repeatedly that is game-changing,” said Karl Huemmrich, a vegetation scientist with the Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research II center at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Huemmrich, who is also a member of the PACE science team, was eager to work with the satellite because of OCI’s broad swath and short revisit time. “The time-series data allow us to determine peak redness and yellowness anywhere on Earth,” he said.

In the fall, leaves change colors as they lose chlorophyll, a green molecule that plants use to synthesize food. Since chlorophyll is not a stable compound, plants must continuously synthesize it, a process that requires ample sunlight and warm temperatures. As temperatures decrease and days shorten in autumn, levels of chlorophyll drop, causing greens to fade and presenting an opportunity for carotenoids and anthocyanins to show their colors.

Observing Leaves in a Canopy Near You

As part of the ongoing North American Phenology Campaign run by the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program, NASA data scientist Skye Caplan has been posting weekly foliage maps of vegetation redness. The maps show waves of red emerging in the high latitudes in August and shifting equatorward in September and October. The PACE team is asking the public to submit photos of fall foliage to help scientists “ground truth” the satellite observations and better understand how various factors influence vegetation color.

A photograph looking down a hill shows forested hills dotted with patches of yellow, orange, and red. An oak tree with rusty red leaves is visible on the right side of the image.
Fall foliage sprinkles a forested New England landscape in a photo taken in Meredith, New Hampshire, on October 11, 2026, by a participant in GLOBE’s North America Phenology Campaign.
GLOBE

“Changes in pigments can also occur when vegetation is stressed due to drought or insect damage,” said Caplan. She noted that changes like these likely help explain why PACE measures high levels of redness in agricultural regions of Brazil, Australia, and Canada that don’t track closely with broader seasonal changes.  

“The more photos we can get from the ground, the better,” Caplan said. Ground photos help scientists refine PACE’s observations of vegetation color, which the team hopes will eventually support several lines of research. These include how the timing of spring greening and fall senescence is changing, how vegetation changes affect the global carbon cycle, and how leaf color influences wildfire risk. Scientists also want to know whether PACE can detect early warning signs of drought, insect infestations, and plant disease.

People can participate in the GLOBE campaign even if they live in an area without dense forests or picturesque fall foliage displays. Scientists also want ground observations of shrubs, grasses, wildflowers, evergreens, crops, and other vegetation. But when it comes to “red leaf hunting,” don’t delay, Caplan said. “Color changes happen kind of slowly, then all at once, and then they’re gone.”

NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using PACE data courtesy of Skye Caplan/NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Photo courtesy of the GLOBE Program. Story by Adam Voiland.

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A map depicts vegetated parts of Earth's land surfaces from September 29 to October 4. Vegetation color is depicted on a spectrum ranging from dark green to light yellow to dark red. The largest patches of red vegetation appear in Alaska, northern Canada, Mongolia, and Russia. Smaller patches of red are visible in Australia.

September 29 – October 4, 2026

JPEG (3.12 MB)

A similar global map depicts the redness of vegetation from October 5 to 11. The reddest areas have shifted equatorward, with more color visible in the Mid-Atlantic, the U.S. Southeast, southern Russia, China, and Mongolia.

October 5 – October 11, 2026

JPEG (3.10 MB)

Ridges and mountains in a forested area appear orange, while river valleys and lower-elevation areas are still green.

Landsat 9: October 3, 2026

JPEG (4.44 MB)

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Autumn Paints Poland’s Bieszczady Mountains

✇NASA Breaking News
19 October 2026 at 00:01
A satellite image of mountains in southeastern Poland in autumn. Green and orange forest covers parallel ridges running diagonally across the scene, and tan grasslands stretch along the highest crests.

As the air grows cooler and days shorter, brown bears prowl the Carpathian Mountains of southern Poland with the goal of fattening up ahead of winter hibernation. In a more conspicuous sign of autumn, beech and other deciduous trees blanketing the hillsides start to sport reds and golds. The seasonal transformation was underway in southeast Poland’s Bieszczady National Park on October 8, 2026, when the OLI (Operational Land Imager) on the NASA-USGS Landsat 9 satellite captured this image.

European beech (Fagus sylvatica) dominates the area’s forests, with other species such as sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus) also contributing to vibrant color in the fall. Dropping air temperatures and waning daylight cause these trees to curtail the production of chlorophyll, the molecule that plants use to synthesize food. Without it, the leaves’ green pigments fade, allowing the yellows and reds of other pigments to show through.

A descendent of ice-age survivors, the European beech has persisted across millennia in a range of climates. After the glaciers retreated, beech forests spread northward across the European continent from isolated refugia in the Carpathians, Alps, and other mountain ranges, and played a crucial role in reforesting the previously ice-covered land. Portions of Bieszczady National Park are included within UNESCO’s network of ancient and primeval beech forests spanning 18 countries.

Expansive as their footprint across Europe may be, beech forests reach only so high in elevation—about 1,000 to 1,260 meters (3,300 to 4,100 feet)—in this area. Above that is the realm of the polonina, a Slavic term for subalpine meadow, consisting of open grasslands and shrubby thickets of rowan (mountain ash), willows, and green alder. Patches of polonina stretch across ridge tops to the east-southeast of Smerek and appear tan, having lost their summer greenness.

The Bieszczady Mountains are renowned not only for forests and mountain meadows but also for charismatic wildlife. European bison, once extinct in the wild, were reintroduced to the area in the 1960s and now roam the hills by the hundreds, according to recent surveys. Additionally, populations of brown bears and Eurasian lynx find refuge and ample food sources in the forests.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Lindsey Doermann.

Downloads

A satellite image of mountains in southeastern Poland in autumn. Green and orange forest covers parallel ridges running diagonally across the scene, and tan grasslands stretch along the highest crests.

October 8, 2026

JPEG (16.00 MB)

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