First-of-its-kind fluorescence map offers a new view of the world's land plants

ScienceDaily (2011-06-07) -- Scientists from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have produced groundbreaking global maps of land plant fluorescence, a difficult-to-detect reddish glow that leaves emit as a byproduct of photosynthesis. While researchers have previously mapped how ocean-dwelling phytoplankton fluoresce, the new maps are the first to focus on land vegetation and to cover the entire globe.