In remote sensing images taken during the summer in the visible spectrum it’s hard to distinguish between hardwood and softwood trees and even harder to identify individual species. During leaf-out in the spring it is much easier to determine species composition as the different hardwood species get their leaves at different time and have different colors. Softwoods stand out even more!
The same thing happens in the fall as trees lose their leaves. You don’t even need an airplane to see the difference. Just drive by a steep slope when the sunlight is right. It’s just like an oblique aerial photo.
Here, looking across Penn National, the pine stand in Meeting of the Pines stands out strongly against the surrounding hillside. This has been the peak week for foliage in southern PA. This picture was taken in the afternoon of 10/22.
