Monitoring vegetation shifts in the Arctic can help scientists understand how the area is changing as the world warms. Already, researchers have documented expansion of boreal forests into the tundra. And at many sites in the region, the tundra is greening up, according to recent satellite observations. NASA postdoctoral fellow Andy Maguire says these vegetation changes provide insights on key questions, such as learning about whether carbon may be escaping from the region’s frozen storehouse. But it is difficult to study vegetation changes in the vast, remote, lightly populated Arctic tundra, where research expeditions often are costly and resource intensive. Plants in the tundra can be tiny — some just a fraction of an inch high — and one small area can harbor significant biodiversity, further complicating study efforts. To learn more about what’s happening in these remote regions, scientists are using a remote sensing technology called imaging spectroscopy to measure reflected light, chronicle changes in Arctic tundra vegetation, and bridge data gaps. Imaging spectroscopy collects data on reflected light, which it can measure in small color bands.