English: Fall colors were brightening the Siberian landscape by early September 2015. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA�s Aqua satellite captured this true-color image on September 9.

Most of the land in the north and central part of this image belongs to the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), a region that stretches about 2000 km (1,243 mi) across the north of Russia, and occupies an area of over 3,103,000 square kilometers (1,198,000 sq mi), or roughly 1/5 of the territory or Russia. Seventy-two percent of the Republic is covered with taiga (boreal forest), and the remaining land is mixed between tundra, forest-tundra and Arctic semi-desert.

The plant variety, and thus the fall coloration, varies in the ecosystems of Siberia. Mosses and small birch shrubs predominate in the northern tundra. Larch is the most common tree in the northernmost taiga, with species such as birch, aspen, cedar, pine, and spruce mixing in as one travels south. Larch begins to turn a stunning yellow in late August or early September as the approaching autumn brings cooler weather and shorter daylight hours. Birch and moss also show yellow coloration, while the more southerly pine, spruce and cedar remains green year-round. All of these colors, as well as the white of snow-dusted mountain tops and bright white cloud, can be seen in this image.