The difference between reflectance in this band and two adjacent spectral bands is used to calculate the NDVI and NDWI, indexes used for assessing plant health. For 10 points each:
[10m] Name this spectral sub-range used for environmental remote sensing because its wavelengths are reflected most by plants. This sub-range’s upper wavelength limit is usually set at 1400 or 2500 nanometers.
ANSWER: near-infrared [or NIR or near-IR; prompt on IR or infrared]
[10e] Near-IR absorbance is used by MODIS for atmospheric measurements of this substance. Humidity measures the concentration of this substance.
ANSWER: water vapor [or H2O; accept aqueous vapor]
[10h] This remote sensing program’s satellites receive near-IR light in their fourth and fifth bands. NASA and the USGS jointly oversee this satellite program, whose image data of Earth’s surface has been freely available since 2008.
ANSWER: Landsat program
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