Reflectance of vegetation, soil, and water

The author has identified the following significant results. Bands 4, 5, and 7 and 5, 6, and 7 were best for distinguishing among crop and soil categories in ERTS-1 SCENES 1182-16322 (1-21-73) and 1308-16323 (5-21-73) respectively. Chlorotic sorghum areas 2.8 acres or larger in size were identified on a computer printout of band 5 data. Reflectance of crop residues was more often different from bare soil in band 4 than in bands 5, 6, and 7. Simultaneously acquired aircraft and spacecraft MSS data indicated that spacecraft surveys are as reliable as aircraft surveys. ERTS-1 data were successfully used to estimate acreage of citrus, cotton, and sorghum as well as idle crop land.