The Jornada Experimental Range in southern New Mexico is the site of a long-term ecological research program to investigate the processes leading to desertification. This paper describes the light reflectance characteristics of dominant plant species and soil on two study sites (desert grassland and mesquite dune sites) on the Jornada and evaluates airborne color-infrared video imagery for distinguishing among vegetation types and soil of the two sites. Ground reflectance measurements showed significant differences among major plant species and soil at both sites. At the desert grassland site, black grama [Bouteloua eripoda (Torr.) Torr.] had lower near-infrared reflectance than the other plant species and soil. Honey mesquite [Prosopis glandulosa L. var. torreyana (L. Benson) M. C. Johnston] had lower reflectance than the other plant species and soil at the mesquite dune site. Qualitative analyses of the video imagery showed that black grama and two additional species could be distinguished on the desert grassland site. Honey mesquite and broom snakeweed [Gutierrezia sarothrae (Pursh.) Britt. and Rushy] could be distinguished on the mesquite dune site. These results showed that remote sensing techniques can be useful to distinguish desert vegetation and soil.