547
Monte Carlo ray-tracing A statistical, sampling-based way of producing a physically accurate representation of the light field in a given environment.
Morphological related to the form of organisms and their structural features,
including shape, structure, pattern, size, etc. See also physiognomic.
Morphological species concept Characterization of a species based on its body
shape or other structural features.
Morphometric Quantitative measurement(s) of a shape or form (e.g., size).
Multispectral refers to an instrument or data having a few (more than one) reflectance bands but generally less than 20. Multispectral bands typically have gaps
between them, and therefore do not measure all contiguous bands in a spectral
interval. For comparison: panchromatic (1 band), multispectral (2–20 bands),
hyperspectral (>20 several hundred), ultraspectral (several thousand).
Multispectral satellite data Satellite imagery capturing specific, typically broad,
noncontiguous wave bands, across the electromagnetic spectrum.
Multiband See multispectral.
Nadir Direction aligned with the direction of the force of gravity at a location
often used to describe the direction of looking straight down at a 90° angle perpendicular to a flat, level surface.
National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) A major US National
Science Foundation-funded program involving a group of sites—distributed
across 20 domains of the United States, including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto
Rico—representing the ecoclimatic variability of the United States. NEON is
connected through cyberinfrastructure that delivers standardized ecological datasets based on ground sampling, remote sensing, and flux towers.
Non-imaging sensor technology A remote sensing technology in which no image
data are generated, e.g., leaf-level spectroscopy or canopy temperature.
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) A normalized expression
of red and NIR spectral bands created by subtracting the difference in value
between the two bands and dividing this by the sum of the values in the two
bands. It generally indicates greenness and often closely relates to several measures of green canopy material such as green leaf area index, green biomass, and
the amount of radiation absorbed by green canopy material.
Net biodiversity effect See overyielding.
Neural network in the context of computing systems, a machine learning technique inspired by the neural network in the brain that can adapt to changing
input without redesign. It can be described as a framework for coordinating
many different machine learning algorithms that process complex data inputs for
a defined purpose in accordance with a set of output criteria.
Niche The range of biotic and abiotic conditions a species requires for persistence
or, alternatively, a species’ ecological role in an ecosystem. Evelyn Hutchinson
defined it as the multidimensional hypervolume circumscribed by an indefinite
number of biotic and abiotic axes which describe the variation in resources or
environmental conditions affecting the performance of an organism or species.
Hutchinson distinguished between the fundamental niche (pre-interactive), the
hypervolume in which a species can live and reproduce absent competition from
Glossary
Monte Carlo ray-tracing A statistical, sampling-based way of producing a physically accurate representation of the light field in a given environment.
Morphological related to the form of organisms and their structural features,
including shape, structure, pattern, size, etc. See also physiognomic.
Morphological species concept Characterization of a species based on its body
shape or other structural features.
Morphometric Quantitative measurement(s) of a shape or form (e.g., size).
Multispectral refers to an instrument or data having a few (more than one) reflectance bands but generally less than 20. Multispectral bands typically have gaps
between them, and therefore do not measure all contiguous bands in a spectral
interval. For comparison: panchromatic (1 band), multispectral (2–20 bands),
hyperspectral (>20 several hundred), ultraspectral (several thousand).
Multispectral satellite data Satellite imagery capturing specific, typically broad,
noncontiguous wave bands, across the electromagnetic spectrum.
Multiband See multispectral.
Nadir Direction aligned with the direction of the force of gravity at a location
often used to describe the direction of looking straight down at a 90° angle perpendicular to a flat, level surface.
National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) A major US National
Science Foundation-funded program involving a group of sites—distributed
across 20 domains of the United States, including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto
Rico—representing the ecoclimatic variability of the United States. NEON is
connected through cyberinfrastructure that delivers standardized ecological datasets based on ground sampling, remote sensing, and flux towers.
Non-imaging sensor technology A remote sensing technology in which no image
data are generated, e.g., leaf-level spectroscopy or canopy temperature.
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) A normalized expression
of red and NIR spectral bands created by subtracting the difference in value
between the two bands and dividing this by the sum of the values in the two
bands. It generally indicates greenness and often closely relates to several measures of green canopy material such as green leaf area index, green biomass, and
the amount of radiation absorbed by green canopy material.
Net biodiversity effect See overyielding.
Neural network in the context of computing systems, a machine learning technique inspired by the neural network in the brain that can adapt to changing
input without redesign. It can be described as a framework for coordinating
many different machine learning algorithms that process complex data inputs for
a defined purpose in accordance with a set of output criteria.
Niche The range of biotic and abiotic conditions a species requires for persistence
or, alternatively, a species’ ecological role in an ecosystem. Evelyn Hutchinson
defined it as the multidimensional hypervolume circumscribed by an indefinite
number of biotic and abiotic axes which describe the variation in resources or
environmental conditions affecting the performance of an organism or species.
Hutchinson distinguished between the fundamental niche (pre-interactive), the
hypervolume in which a species can live and reproduce absent competition from
Glossary