CF Technology & Digital Tools 3

Question 1

Which spectral band is most useful for detecting vegetation stress caused by insect infestation or drought in multispectral imagery?

Accepted Answer

Near-infrared (NIR, 750–900 nm)

Answer

Stressed vegetation reflects less NIR than healthy vegetation, making NIR the primary band for detecting canopy stress.

Question 2

In a forestry database, what is the purpose of a 'relational' structure compared to a flat file?

Accepted Answer

It links multiple tables via common keys to reduce redundancy and improve query efficiency

Answer

Relational databases use primary and foreign keys to link tables, avoiding data duplication and enabling complex queries across datasets.

Question 3

What does the acronym 'NDVI' stand for and what does it measure?

Accepted Answer

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index — a ratio indicating vegetation greenness

Answer

NDVI = (NIR − Red) / (NIR + Red) and provides a dimensionless index of vegetation photosynthetic activity and cover density.

Question 4

A forester needs to delineate watersheds automatically from elevation data. Which GIS function is most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

Hydrological flow accumulation and watershed delineation tools

Answer

Hydrological tools use DEM flow direction and accumulation grids to automatically delineate watershed boundaries and stream networks.

Question 5

Which data format is the native vector format of Esri ArcGIS and widely used in US forestry GIS workflows?

Accepted Answer

Shapefile (.shp)

Answer

The shapefile format, though legacy, remains dominant in US forestry GIS due to its long history with Esri products and widespread compatibility.

(CF) Certified Forester Exam Practice Test