English: On December 17, 2023, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a false-color image of snow atop the high ranges of the Bitterroot and Teton Ranges in the Western United States.

This type of image uses a combination of visible light and shortwave infrared (MODIS bands 3,6,7) to separate snow and ice (bright red) from vegetation (green). The thicker the snow or ice, the more light is absorbed, the more robust the red will appear. Cloud and fog (low cloud) looks white, except for very cold clouds that contain ice particles, which will take on a red tint.

Both the Bitterroot Range and the Teton Mountains are subranges of the Rocky Mountains. The Tetons (in the southeast) stretch about 40 miles (64 km) in a north-south direction through the state of Wyoming and east of the border with Idaho. Most of the eastern section of the range lies within Grand Teton National Park. The Bitterroot Range sprawls across part of Idaho and Montana, spanning about 24,223 square miles (62,740 square kilometers). It takes its name from the state flower of Montana, a small, pink flower known as the bitterroot.