English: On March 2, 2019, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a stunning true-color image of a sunny spring day in southern California and western Nevada.

Snow clings to the Sierra Nevada Mountains while much of the San Joaquin valley and most of the Coast Ranges show substantial spring greening. The Sierra Nevada Mountains sit primarily in California but near Lake Tahoe (the lake in the north of the image) they extend into Nevada. Snow also remains on the highest peaks of the mountains rising from the Great Basin, in Nevada.

While the San Joaquin Valley is a fertile and productive agricultural region, it also is home to many large cities. Human habitation, which includes concrete and other structures, appear gray. Sacramento is easily seen southwest of Lake Tahoe. Continuing south and west are the gray pixels that mark San Jose, which sits on San Francisco Bay.