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Glossary

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normalized difference vegetation index
An index, or scale, of vegetation conditions based on differences in the amount of visible and near-infrared light reflected from plants on Earth's surface. A vegetation index is a gauge of plant health, productivity, and density.

Plant leaves absorb visible light for use in photosynthesis, and they reflect near-infrared light. A light-measuring sensor looking at a healthy plant sees very little reflected visible light and lots of near-infrared light. The more healthy green leaves a plant has, the stronger the difference between the amount of visible and near-infrared light it reflects, and the higher the vegetation index. An unhealthy plant will have fewer green leaves, resulting in a lower score on the vegetation index.

  1. all entries
  2. a
  3. b–c
  4. d
  5. e
  6. f–g
  7. h–k
  8. l–m
  9. n
  10. o
  11. p
  12. q–r
  13. s
  14. t
  15. u–v
  16. w–z