For different purposes, different combinations of spectral bands can be used. They are usually represented with red, green, and blue channels. Mapping of bands to colors depends on the purpose of the image and the personal preferences of the analysts. Thermal infrared is often omitted from consideration due to poor spatial resolution, except for special purposes.
* True-color uses only red, green, and blue channels, mapped to their respective colors. As a plain color photograph, it is good for analyzing man-made objects, and is easy to understand for beginner analysts.
* Green-red-infrared, where the blue channel is replaced with near infrared, is used for vegetation, which is highly reflective in near IR; it then shows as blue. This combination is often used to detect vegetation and camouflage.
* Blue-NIR-MIR, where the blue channel uses visible blue, green uses NIR (so vegetation stays green), and MIR is shown as red. Such images allow the water depth, vegetation coverage, soil moisture content, and the presence of fires to be seen, all in a single image.
Many other combinations are in use. NIR is often shown as red, causing vegetation-covered areas to appear red.