in the equivalent width suggest that spectral types can be evaluated to within $\pm 2$ subclasses ($\pm$ 300 K) from K3–M5 using spectra with $SNR > 50$ based on these indices alone.

Discussion and Summary
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Spectral classification in the near-infrared will become increasingly important in the next decade, as the 2MASS and DENIS near-infrared sky surveys reveal unprecented numbers of stars which are optically–invisible. Because the 1–2.5 $\mu$m region is on the Rayleigh–Jeans tail of most stellar SEDs, it is not an ideal wavelength regime to pursue spectral classification. Yet, there are sufficient features in both the H– and the K–bands to allow most stellar photospheres to be classified. For heavily reddened sources, the K–band will be the wavelength of choice. However, continuum emission from circumstellar dust with temperatures less than 2000 K can heavily veil stellar photospheres at wavelengths greater than 2.0 $\mu$m. In this case, shorter wavelength spectra are required in order to identify the underlying star.

The early-type stars are probably the most challenging for spectral classification in the near–infrared. We find that a rough classification from 07-B8 can be made in the H–band by the relative strengths of HeI 5882 cm$^{-1}$ and the Brackett series 