Studying the Earth's Vegetation from Space

Understanding the effects of modern technological civilization on the biosphere requires greatly improved global estimates of the spatial distribution and temporal dynamics of major types of terrestrial vegetation, as well as information on biomass, productivity, and exchange of energy and chemical elements between the vegetation and the atmosphere, oceans, and soils. Past estimates of these vegetation characteristics have been, by necessity, based on extremely limited data; they have been little more than expert testimony of knowledgeable ecologists and biogeographers. Advances during the past decade in satellite remote sensing technology and computer processing, however, have made accurate, repeatable measurements of these characteristics possible. Remote sensing is the study of objects and phenomena from a great distance by systems that are not in contact with the object or phenomenon being investigated. A number of factors have contributed to the development of remote sensing as we know it today; these include the invention and development of multispectral scanners producing digital information, advances in computer processing and its applications to remote sensing, the development of stable highaltitude aircraft and satellites to carry the sensors, and scientific interest in using these tools. The technological advances in remote sensing have largely developed to satisfy needs for specific information for specific applications; interest among scientists in using remote sensing for basic research has arisen secondarily.

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