English: March 29, 2024 February 24, 2024

One of the most anticipated seasonal changes across the Southeastern United States is springtime greening. Warming temperatures, lengthening hours of daylight, and increasing rain all encourage plants to shake off the tan senescence of winter and burst forth into lush growth. The seasonal switch is not just lovely to witness from the ground, it creates a dramatic contrast when viewed from space.

In early 2024, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a pair of true-color images that show early spring greening in part of the Southeastern United States. The first image was acquired on March 29. The second, which can be viewed by clicking on the date below the image, was acquired on February 24.

A prominent feature of both images is the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River system, which originates in northeast Georgia, crosses the Georgia-Alabama border into central Alabama, and follows the state line south until it terminates in Apalachicola Bay, Florida. Georgia is located in the northeast of the images, Alabama to the northwest, and Florida sits along the Gulf of Mexico, in the south.

Green predominates throughout the March 29 image. Forests, wildlife preserves, and parks take on the darkest hues, especially those along the Gulf of Mexico in Florida and in southeastern Georgia. Agricultural fields remain tinted in light green, tan, or yellow. Sediment flows from the Apalachicola River, turning the water of Apalachicola Bay a muddy tan. Bright sediment also floats in the Gulf of Mexico near Deadman Bay and the outflow of the Steinhatchee River in Florida.

In contrast, clicking on the February 24 shows the same region dressed in the browns and tans typical of late winter in the Southeastern United States. Sediment muddies the water in several areas along the coast, but it is not as bright or thick as seen in March.