Schaberg points out that the best color displays occur in forests that have a diversity of species -- and trees that have the tendency to turn red.

The progression of fall creates a wave of color across the country, with grassy plains and farmlands in the Midwest drying up, and the trees of the East Coast rolling from green to yellow/orange/red to brown. Descartes Labs collected and analyzed 10 years of satellite imagery to develop this cloud-free animation of fall in the eastern United States.