US Southwest Plant Cover 2004 (IMAGE)
Caption
This satellite image uses what is known as the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) to show plant cover in June 2004 in the US Four Corners region of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. Also shown are parts of Nevada, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. Lighter, brighter greens indicate a greater amount of green plant cover. University of Utah geographers and a biologist have shown that in areas where deer mice carry the deadly hantavirus, a surge in greenery shown on satellite images can help predict increased mouse populations and risk of hantavirus transmission more than a year later. The same method may be used to help forecast outbreaks of other rodent-borne diseases. The image was made from data from an instrument named MODIS on NASA's Terra satellite.
Credit
Philip Dennison, University of Utah
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