Note: Image acquired on January 29, 2008 by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC.
This image includes both infrared light and visible light to provide a contrast between snow and clouds. Snow is red-orange, while clouds are white and peach. Some of the worst-affected provinces, such as Guangdong along the southern coast, were still under cloud cover when MODIS captured this image. Other areas, such as the North China Plain (where Beijing is located), are snow-free. The ground is green-blue, the shade of bare or sparsely vegetated earth in this type of image.