Register of colour evidence · fixed frame
A map of autumn colour
Poland does not change colour all at once. That is why this map has one documented place and one date, and leaves the rest of the country empty. Empty means: there is no photograph here. It does not mean green, gold or “autumn is already over”.
Check whether two of your photographs of the same tree can be compared ↓
The only observation with documentation
Kampinos Forest. The photograph is hosted outside this page and opens from Wikimedia Commons.
- Documented: Kampinos Forest, 21 October 2012. The rectangle on the right is a placeholder for the frame; the photograph is not embedded here (the page works offline), only linked. The position of the point is approximate; the photograph’s coordinates were not checked.
- Your frames: they have no coordinates, so they are not placed on the map.
- Rest of the country: no documentation in this material. The dots are not data about leaves.
The outline is a simplified sketch drawn by hand for this page, not boundary data or a verified map.
Open the photograph on Wikimedia Commons ↗ (external site; V2 description: autumn trees and a sandy road)
Main task
Can these two photographs be set side by side?
Enter two frames of the same tree: the date, the light and the shares of leaves estimated by eye. The page does not assess the tree. It assesses whether these photographs are suitable for comparison, and only then calculates the rate of change.
The same crown can look different simply because the light or the framing has changed. The rate of colour change may be calculated only from comparable frames.
The 2012 photograph is not frame A here. No one has assigned it shares of leaves, and inventing them would be adding data.
Model example: the dates and numbers are invented for the purpose of explanation and do not describe any forest.
European beech (Fagus sylvatica): conventional palette, green, gold, copper. The colours distinguish categories of leaves; they are not a measurement.
Result of the comparison
Model / example: invented dates and numbers; they do not describe any forest.
Not comparable
The frames were taken in different light (frame A: diffuse; frame B: golden hour). The light alone changes the colour of one of them, so the difference in shares is not clear evidence of change.
Interval: 14 days (8 October 2025 → 22 October 2025).
Rate: not calculated — the frames are not comparable.
Model / example: invented dates and numbers; they do not describe any forest.
Dashed and pale: do not read this as change. The light or the framing may be the cause of the difference. The 0–100% scale is the same for both columns.
If the table does not fit on the screen, scroll it sideways (with a finger, or with the left/right arrow keys after moving into the table with the Tab key).
| Leaves | Frame A | Frame B | B − A |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green | 60% | 15% | −45 pp |
| Turned | 30% | 55% | +25 pp |
| Fallen | 10% | 30% | +20 pp |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 0 pp |
Explanation
Colour is not a calendar
The content below was carried over from the previous version together with its references. In this version it was not checked again at the source.
Yellow waits in the leaf
As green chlorophyll declines, it becomes easier to see the yellow xanthophylls and orange carotenes. Reds are linked to anthocyanins. Shorter days and cooler nights are part of the seasonal signal, but not every tree responds at the same pace. [4]
Species matters
In autumn the pedunculate oak often takes on yellow-brown shades, so do not assume that every oak will turn red. Beech gives golden, orange and red colours. This page does not identify species; the palettes in the comparison are conventional. [2][3]
Brown does not always mean autumn
Drought can speed up yellowing, and local frosts and strong wind also affect the course of the season. IMGW (the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management) observes the yellowing and leaf fall of silver birch and small-leaved linden. In horse chestnuts, seasonal changes must be distinguished from damage caused by the horse-chestnut leaf miner. [1]
Regions do not start together
According to V2, phenological autumn began earlier in central Poland and later on the Lesser Poland Upland. In the eastern part of the Pomeranian Lakeland, signs of early autumn appeared earlier: the ripening of fruit and the flowering of heather. This is a multi-year background, not the date of peak colour and not a forecast. [1]
To be checked: whether these statements come from [1] or from [5] or [6].
How to take two photographs that can be compared
- Fixed spot and bearingAlways photograph the same crown from the same place and in the same direction.
- Avoid the golden hourLow, warm sun gives even green leaves a golden tint. For comparisons, choose an evenly overcast sky.
- Separate yellowing from leaf fallIMGW records them as two distinct phenomena. A tree can shed its leaves before they have fully yellowed, for example after a frost or a drought.
- Look at the forest floor tooAutumn colour moves to the ground. The state of the leaf litter helps to judge how far leaf fall has progressed, as long as no one has cleared it.
Limits and sources
What this page does not know
Limits
- There is no weather forecast here, no date of peak colour, no measurement of colour from photographs and no identification of species from a frame.
- Shares of leaves are an estimate by eye. It has not been calibrated, and there is no “certainty” attached to its result.
- The only observation with documentation is the photograph of 21 October 2012. Its description, author and licence were carried over from V2 and not checked again. The dates of publication and of the last check are not established.
- The examples in the comparison are models, with invented dates and numbers. Values you enter are not saved anywhere and disappear when the page is refreshed.
- The optical diagram of colours in light illustrates multiplying a colour by a tint; it is not a simulation of any particular camera.
- The outline of the country and the position of the point are approximate and are not a substitute for a map.
What changed compared with V2
- Kept: the total of 100% (now by construction), four kinds of light with a comparability flag, the palettes of three species, the rules for photographing a fixed frame, the sources and the facts about leaves.
- Dropped: the log in the browser’s storage (key
atlas-v2-111). A single pair of frames does not need permanent storage, and the V2 data remain untouched in the browser. - Replaced with a simpler approach: three sliders with a “Balance the total” button, now two sliders; fallen leaves are always the remainder, so the total cannot drift apart.
- Removed: the fictional “Series B” set against the documentary photograph. Model examples are now a separate, clearly labelled mode.
- Replaced with static text: the region selector, which only swapped a paragraph.
- Replaced with a link: the photograph embedded from the internet; the page now works without a network.
Sources
References carried over from V2. They were not opened in V3, so they are not marked as checked.
- [1] IMGW: Przesunięcia sezonów: szybsza wiosna i jesienne opóźnienia [Season shifts: earlier spring and autumn delays] (phases of yellowing and leaf fall).
- [2] State Forests: Grodziec Forest District: description of the pedunculate oak (page in Polish).
- [3] State Forests: Piaski Forest District: the month of trees (page in Polish; European beech).
- [4] Echa Leśne: Wydanie 3/2022, s. 37 [Issue 3/2022, p. 37] (chlorophyll, xanthophylls, carotenes, anthocyanins).
- [5] AMU Repository: Atlas klimatu Polski 1991–2020 [Climate atlas of Poland 1991–2020] (regional background).
- [6] IMGW-PIB: Serwis fenologiczny agrometeo [agrometeo phenological service] (phenological phases).
- [7] Photograph of 21 October 2012: Aga Viburno, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (according to the V2 description). A link only, with no copy on this page.