World of Change: Maine Seasons

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Since most of Maine is covered with forests, seasonal changes can be pretty dramatic.

Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach in collaboration with the NASA Earth Observatory (https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/).
 
Story adapted from Image of the Day post by Mike Carlowicz: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/world-of-change/westenfield.php

  • Photo of summer foliage in Maine: National Park Service, Will Greene
  • Photo of fall foliage in Maine: Paul Van der Werf
  • Photo of evergreens blanketed with snow around a lake: Max Pixel
  • Series of images shows shows how the region around the small town of Howland changes during the year: Advanced Land Imager on NASA’s Earth Observing-1satellite 
  • Written by Kathryn Porter

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The planet Earth rotates on a dark background, Title, World of Change, Seasonal Changes in Maine.
 
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[GENTLE MUSIC]
 
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From above, a green and hilly forest landscape with a rocky outcrop in the foreground, A river runs through the valley and a blue sky with clouds is above, Photo credit, National Park Service, Will Green. Text, World of Change April-December 2008, More than 85% of the state of Maine is forested, In the summer, the landscape is covered in bright and dark green from the leaves of hardwood trees and conifers
 
The sunlit reds, yellows, oranges, and greens of fall trees are reflected in a lake with blue sky above, credit, Paul Van der Werf, Text, In the autumn, hardwood deciduous trees, including maple, oak, and ash, lend their bright colors to the region
 
A snow-covered lake is framed by trees with mountains and blue sky and clouds in the background, credit, Max Pixel, Text, In winter, forest evergreens, blanketed with snow, maintain their dark green color
 
Landscape from space, Text, Although astronomical spring begins around March 20, central Maine typically doesn't shed all of its winter snow until April, or even later, This series of images from the Advanced Land Imager on NASA's Earth Observing 1 satellite shows how the region around the small town of Howland changes during the year, the Piscataquis and Penobscot Rivers are labeled
 
Text, April 2008, much of the landscape is still covered with snow.
 
May 2008, The snow has melted and the landscape is now light green. July 2008. The landscape is covered with dark green. September 4 and September 22 2008, the landscape continues to be covered in dark green.
 
October 2008, brown and orange patches begin to show up on the landscape. December 2008, The landscape is greenish-gray with white patches. The rivers have begun to freeze and parts are covered with snow.
 
A side-by-side comparison shows the same view from space of the four sections of landscape in Maine from April, July, October and December 2008. Each section is a different color.