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• Credit

  Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Europe’s Low Countries are covered in varying shades of late-spring green in this photo-like Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image, acquired on June 19, 2005, by NASA’s Terra satellite. In the large images, the paler green regions resolve into the tiny dots and grids that are characteristic of farmland. The streaks of deep green are pockets of forest. Interspersed among the fields and forests are the gray spots formed by cities, the most obvious of which is Paris on the left side of the image. MODIS has detected a few active fires, which have been marked with red boxes.

Along the top of the image, the North Sea also blooms with life. Tiny ocean plants, called phytoplankton, have formed dense blooms on the surface of the water. The plants tint the water a variety of colors from brilliant blue to dark green. Along the shore, the water’s green color is probably caused by sediment washing from the land into the ocean.

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• Database Updated: February 25 2008