Satellite classification of land use

Use this diagram to motivate the use of normal distributions in the two groups as a possible population model.

The jittered dot plot is actually a 3-dimensional diagram. Drag the centre of the diagram towards the top left to rotate and display the two groups as histograms. (Or click the 3D rotation button.)

The histograms describe the distributions in the groups

Select Possible normal model from the pop-up menu at the top. This displays normal distributions that could be populations from which the data might have arisen.

Click Take sample to select random samples.

The model claims that the real data is such a random sample.


Natural resource managers often use satellite data to classify land use. The dotplot below shows near-infrared intensities that were recorded by the Satellite Landsat Multispectral Scanner for 118 areas that were known to contain forest, and for another 40 areas that were known to be urban.