Landscape Seen from Space

Deciduous trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials shed leaves in winter to conserve energy and prevent excessive water loss during the cold months when sunlight is limited and water is unavailable in frozen soil. The leaves start to come back in spring with the increase in temperature, sunlight and liquid water starts to percolate into soil. These natural phenological changes are captured by Earth Observing satellites. A false color satellite image during summer over a vegetative area looks red because of leaf-on but will look grayish because of exposed bare ground due to leaf-off conditions. This wall decor mimics that phenological change of the landscape seen from space.

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