Before you begin exploring these chapters, keep in mind that this is indeed a book whose chapters can be rather large files. Be sure to let them finish loading completely before you start moving around.

Each chapter is represented on the screen with three independent frames. The frame across the top right contains the chapter title, buttons you can use to move between chapters, and links to the different sections of that chapter. The frame below on the bottom right displays the text of the selected section, and buttons at the bottom also allow you to move between sections. The vertical frame on the left side presents thumbnails of all graphical figures from the selected chapter and a link to a file containing high-resolution PDF versions that are good for printing and making view graphs. Each thumbnail links to a larger, low-resolution image for viewing. Conventional scientific citation within chapter text was removed for reading ease and flow. All citations for graphics and text are found in each chapter's Reference section.

So choose a chapter, click on its link, and watch it load.

Chapter 1: Global Vegetation Analysis with Satellite Observations

Chapter 2: Earth's Radiation Balance and the Global Greenhouse

Chapter 3: The Flow of Energy and Materials in the Biosphere

Chapter 4: Plant and Vegetation Community Properties

Chapter 5: Overview of Remote Sensing Systems for Monitoring Vegetation

Chapter 6: Vegetation Classification With Satellite Observations

Chapter 7: Detecting and Monitoring Land Cover Change With Remote Sensing

Chapter 8: The Human Dimension of Land Use and Land Cover Change

We wish to thank Dr. Darrel L. Williams, Head of the NASA GSFC Biospherics Branch, for supporting this educational endeavor, Peter Smith from the GSFC DAAC, and members of the University of Maryland, Geography Department, College Park Campus. The following people participated in reviewing the first rough draft.