B.S.F. or B.Sc.F. Bachelor of Science in Forestry Bachelor of Science in Forestry: Remote Sensing and GIS in Forestry 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What does the acronym GIS stand for in the context of forestry applications?
- Geographic Information System (Correct answer)
- Global Imaging Software
- Geospatial Index Survey
- Ground Inventory System
Correct answer: Geographic Information System
GIS stands for Geographic Information System, a framework for capturing, managing, analyzing, and visualizing spatial and geographic data used extensively in forestry planning.
Question 2: Which electromagnetic spectral band is most commonly used in remote sensing to detect healthy green vegetation?
- Thermal infrared
- Near-infrared (NIR) (Correct answer)
- Ultraviolet
- Microwave
Correct answer: Near-infrared (NIR)
Near-infrared (NIR) radiation is strongly reflected by chlorophyll-rich, healthy plant tissue, making it the most useful band for detecting and assessing living vegetation.
Question 3: What does NDVI stand for in forest remote sensing?
- Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (Correct answer)
- National Digital Vegetation Inventory
- Near-Distance Variance Indicator
- Normalized Data Vegetation Imagery
Correct answer: Normalized Difference Vegetation Index
NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) is calculated from red and near-infrared bands to quantify vegetation density and health across large forested areas.
Question 4: LiDAR technology in forestry is primarily valued for its ability to measure which forest attribute with high accuracy?
- Soil pH levels
- Tree species composition
- Canopy height and vertical structure (Correct answer)
- Leaf chlorophyll content
Correct answer: Canopy height and vertical structure
LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) emits laser pulses and measures return times to produce precise three-dimensional data on canopy height and vertical forest structure.
Question 5: Which of the following Landsat satellite series is operated jointly by NASA and the USGS and is widely used for long-term forest cover monitoring?
- SPOT 7
- Sentinel-2
- Landsat 8/9 (Correct answer)
- WorldView-3
Correct answer: Landsat 8/9
Landsat 8 and Landsat 9, operated by NASA and USGS, provide continuous 30-meter resolution imagery dating back to 1972, making them the standard for long-term forest change detection.
Question 6: In remote sensing, 'spatial resolution' refers to which characteristic of an image?
- The number of spectral bands captured
- The smallest ground area represented by a single pixel (Correct answer)
- The frequency at which the satellite revisits an area
- The radiometric sensitivity of the sensor
Correct answer: The smallest ground area represented by a single pixel
Spatial resolution defines the minimum ground area represented by one pixel; a 30-meter resolution means each pixel covers a 30 × 30 m area on the ground.
Question 7: Which type of GIS data model stores information as a grid of cells, each with an assigned value, and is commonly used for representing continuous forest attributes such as elevation or canopy cover?
- Vector polygon
- Raster (Correct answer)
- Shapefile
- Topology
Correct answer: Raster
A raster data model divides space into a regular grid of cells, making it ideal for representing continuous spatial variables like elevation, slope, and canopy density across a forested landscape.
B.S.F. or B.Sc.F. Bachelor of Science in Forestry Bachelor of Science in Forestry: Remote Sensing and GIS in Forestry 1
What does the acronym GIS stand for in the context of forestry applications?