This series of Landsat images of southeastern Florida and the Northern Everglades illustrates why you might want to see the world in false color. (For instance, grass isn’t always green.) Such false-color band combinations reveal unique aspects of the land or sky that might not be visible otherwise.
As a result, the colors in the final image may not be what you expect them to be.
(For tips on understanding true-color images, read How to Interpret a Satellite Image on the Earth Observatory.')Ī false-color image uses at least one non-visible wavelength, though that band is still represented in red, green, or blue. The result looks like the world as humans see it.
Because most visible colors can be created by combining red, green, and blue light, we then combine the red, green, and blue-scale images to get a full-color representation of the world.Ī natural or “true-color” image combines actual measurements of red, green, and blue light. To make a satellite image, we choose three bands and represent each in tones of red, green, or blue.
