$re = '`(^reflectance_\d_)(\S*)$`m';
$str = 'reflectance_7_myd21a1_emissivity_29
reflectance_7_myd21a1_emissivity_29_savitzkygolay
reflectance_7_myd21a1_emissivity_31
reflectance_7_myd21a1_emissivity_31_savitzkygolay
reflectance_3_myd21a1_emissivity_32
reflectance_2_myd21a1_emissivity_32_savitzkygolay
reflectance_1_mcd43a3_albedo_bsa_band1
reflectance_3_mcd43a3_albedo_bsa_band2
reflectance_7_mcd43a3_albedo_bsa_nir
reflectance_7_mcd43a3_albedo_bsa_shortwave
reflectance_7_mcd43a3_albedo_bsa_vis
reflectance_7_mcd43a3_albedo_wsa_band1
reflectance_7_mcd43a3_albedo_wsa_band2
reflectance_7_mcd43a3_albedo_wsa_nir
reflectance_7_mcd43a3_albedo_wsa_shortwave
reflectance_7_mcd43a3_albedo_wsa_vis';
$subst = "($1)vs_$2";
$result = preg_replace($re, $subst, $str);
echo "The result of the substitution is ".$result;
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php