High altitudinal vegetation dynamics including treeline ecotone in Langtang National Park, Nepal

Identification of high altitudinal vegetation dynamics using remote sensing is important because of the complex topography and environment in the Himalayas. Langtang National Park is the first Himalayan park in Nepal representing the best area to study vegetation change in the central Himalaya region because of the high altitudinal gradient and relatively less disturbed region. This study aimed at mapping vegetation in Langtang National Park and its treeline ecotone using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Two treeline sites with an altitude of 3927 and 3802 meters above sea level (masl) were selected, and species density was measured during the field survey. The linear slope for each pixel and the Mann Kendall test to measure significant trends were used. The results showed that NDVI has significantly increased at the rate of 0.002yr-1 in Langtang National Park and 0.003yr-1 in treeline ecotone during 2000-2017. The average 68.73% equivalents to 1463 km2 of Langtang National Park are covered by vegetation. At the same time, 16.45% equivalents to 350.43 km2 are greening, and 0.25%, i.e., 5.43 km2 are found browning. In treeline ecotone, the vegetation is mostly occupied by grasses, shrublands and small trees where the NDVI was found from 0.1 to 0.5. The relative changes of NDVI in barren lands are negative and vegetative lands above 0.5 NDVI are positive between 2000 and 2017. The dominant treeline vegetation were Abies spectabilis, Rhododendron campanulatum, Betula utilis and Sorbus microphyla, with the vegetation density of 839.28 and 775 individuals per hectare in sites A and B, respectively. The higher average NDVI values, significantly increased NDVI, and higher density of vegetation in both A and B sites indicate that the vegetation in treeline ecotone is obtaining a good environment in the Himalayas of Nepal.

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Growing Season Vegetation Dynamics Based on NDVI and the Driving Forces in Nepal during 1982-2015

Forestry: Journal of Institute of Forestry, Nepal ◽

10.3126/forestry.v17i0.33619 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 ◽

pp. 1-22

Author(s):

Binod Baniya ◽

Qiuhong Tang ◽

Madan Koirala ◽

Kedar Rijal ◽

Giri Kattel

Keyword(s):

Vegetation Dynamics ◽

Vegetation Change ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Driving Forces ◽

Pearson Correlation ◽

Growing Season ◽

Kendall Test ◽

Warming Trend ◽

Shuttle Radar Topography Mission

Monitoring and attributing growing season vegetation dynamics have become crucial for maintaining the structure and function of the ecosystem. The objective of this research was to examine the spatial and temporal vegetation changes and explore their driving forces during growing season in Nepal. It also explored the variation of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in different altitudes at each 100m interval. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) NDVI, monthly temperature, precipitation and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) 90m Digital Elevation Model (DEM) were used. The linear regression model, Sen’s slope, Mann Kendall test and Pearson correlation between NDVI and climate, i.e., temperature and precipitation were computed. The driving forces were identified based on threshold segmentation method. Our results showed positive intensity of vegetation change. The NDVI has significantly increased at the rate of 0.001yr-1, 0.0005yr-1 and 0.002yr-1 in growing season, spring and autumn but it has insignificantly increased at the rate of 0.0003yr-1 in summer. In the meantime, growing season temperature has significantly increased with an average warming trend of 0.03°Cyr-1 but precipitation decreased at the rate of 2.76 mm yr-1 during 1982-2015. The NDVI increased in 84.20% (53.08% significant) of the area. The correlation between NDVI and temperature was found positive whereas correlation with precipitation was negative. Spatially, 84.05% of the study area found positive correlation between NDVI and temperature with 25.72% significance (p<0.05) which was very less with precipitation. Our results demonstrate that NDVI was strongly correlated with temperature compared with precipitation. Beyond the climate, NDVI changes were also attributed to multi-control environments and ecological restoration in Nepal.

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Detecting Patterns of Vegetation Gradual Changes (2001–2017) in Shiyang River Basin, Based on a Novel Framework

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs11212475 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (21) ◽

pp. 2475 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ju Wang ◽

Yaowen Xie ◽

Xiaoyun Wang ◽

Jingru Dong ◽

Qiang Bie

Keyword(s):

River Basin ◽

Vegetation Change ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Logistic Function ◽

Linear Pattern ◽

Shiyang River Basin ◽

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer ◽

High Consistency ◽

Almost All

A lot of timeseries satellite products have been well documented in exploring changes in ecosystems. However, algorithms allowing for measuring the directions, magnitudes, and timing of vegetation change, evaluating the major driving factors, and eventually predicting the future trends are still insufficient. A novel framework focusing on addressing this problem was proposed in this study according to the temporal trajectory of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) timeseries of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). It divided the inter-annual changes in vegetation into four patterns: linear, exponential, logarithmic, and logistic. All the three non-linear patterns were differentiated automatically by fitting a logistic function with prolonged NDVI timeseries. Finally, features of vegetation changes including where, when and how, were evaluated by the parameters in the logistic function. Our results showed that 87.39% of vegetation covered areas (maximum mean growing season NDVI in the 17 years not less than 0.2) in the Shiyng River basin experienced significant changes during 2001–2017. The linear pattern, exponential pattern, logarithmic pattern, and logistic pattern accounted for 36.53%, 20.16%, 15.42%, and 15.27%, respectively. Increasing trends were dominant in all the patterns. The spatial distribution in both the patterns and the transition years at which vegetation gains/losses began or ended is of high consistency. The main years of transition for the exponential increasing pattern, the logarithmic increasing pattern, and the logarithmic increasing pattern were 2008–2011, 2003–2004, and 2009–2010, respectively. The period of 2006–2008 was the foremost period that NDVIs started to decline in Liangzhou Oasis and Minqin Oasis where almost all the decreasing patterns were concentrated. Potential disturbances of vegetation gradual changes in the basin are refer to as urbanization, expansion or reduction of agricultural oases, as well as measures in ecological projects, such as greenhouses building, afforestation, grazing prohibition, etc.

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Comparison of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index Derived from Landsat, MODIS, and AVHRR for the Mesopotamian Marshes Between 2002 and 2018

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs11101245 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (10) ◽

pp. 1245 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Reyadh Albarakat ◽

Venkataraman Lakshmi

Keyword(s):

Time Series ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Strong Positive Correlation ◽

Statistical Correlations ◽

Mesopotamian Marshes ◽

Moderate Resolution ◽

Satellite Sensors ◽

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer ◽

Linear Slope

The Mesopotamian marshes are a group of water bodies located in southern Iraq, in the shape of a triangle, with the cities Amarah, Nasiriyah, and Basra located at its corners. The marshes are appropriate habitats for a variety of birds and most of the commercial fisheries in the region. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) has been derived using observations from various satellite sensors, such as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Advanced Very-High-Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), and Landsat over the Mesopotamian marshlands for the 17-year period between 2002 and 2018. We have chosen this time series (2002–2018) to monitor the change in vegetation of the study area since it is considered as a period of rehabilitation for the marshes (following a period when there was little to no water flowing into the marshes). Statistical analyses were performed to monitor the variability of the maximum biomass time (month of June). The results illustrated a strong positive correlation between the NDVI derived from Landsat, MODIS, and AVHRR. The statistical correlations were 0.79, 0.77, and 0.96 between Landsat and AVHRR, MODIS and AVHRR, and Landsat and MODIS, respectively. The linear slope of NDVI (Landsat, MODIS, and AVHRR) for each pixel over the period 2002–2018 displays a long-term trend of green biomass (NDVI) change in the study area, and the slope is slightly negative over most of the area. Slope values (−0.002 to −0.05) denote a slight decrease in the observed vegetation index over 17 years. The green biomass of the marshlands increased by 33.2% of the total area over 17 years. The areas of negative and positive slopes correspond to the same areas in slope map when calculated from Landsat, MODIS, and AVHRR, although they are different in spatial resolution (30 m, 1 km, and 5 km, respectively). The time series of the average NDVI (2002–2018) for three different sensors shows the highest and lowest NDVI values during the same years (for the month of June each year). The highest values were 0.19, 0.22, and 0.22 for Landsat, MODIS, and AVHRR, respectively, in 2006, and the lowest values were 0.09, 0.14, and 0.09 for Landsat, MODIS, and AVHRR, respectively, in 2003.

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Evaluation of Fengyun-3C Soil Moisture Products Using In situ Data from the Chinese Automatic Soil Moisture Observation Stations: A Case Study in Henan Province, China

10.20944/preprints201812.0068.v1 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Yongchao Zhu ◽

Simon Pearson ◽

Dongli Wu ◽

Ruijing Sun ◽

Shibo Fang

Keyword(s):

Soil Moisture ◽

Correlation Coefficient ◽

Large Scale ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Vegetation Density ◽

Statistical Parameters ◽

In Situ Data ◽

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer

Soil moisture (SM) products derived from passive satellite missions are playing an increasingly important role in agricultural applications, especially in crop monitoring and disaster warning. Evaluating the dependability of those products before they can be used on a large scale is crucial. In this study, we assessed the level 2 (L2) SM product from the Chinese Fengyun-3C (FY-3C) radiometer against in situ measurements collected from the Chinese Automatic Soil Moisture Observation Stations (CASMOS) during a one-year period from January 1 to December 31, 2016 in Henan, which is an agricultural province in China. Four statistical parameters were used to evaluate the products’ reliability: mean difference, root-mean-square error (RMSE), unbiased RMSE (ubRMSE), and the correlation coefficient. These statistical indicators revealed that the FY-3C L2 SM product generally did not agree with the in situ SM data from CASMOS. The time-series analysis further indicated that the correlations and estimated error were highly related to the growing periods of the crops in our study area. FY-3C L2 SM data tended to overestimate soil moisture during May, August, and September, when the crops reach their maximum vegetation density, and tended to underestimate the soil moisture content during the rest of the year. The averaged correlation coefficient between FY-3C SM and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) normalized difference vegetation index was 0.55, which demonstrates that the vegetation water content of the crops considerably influences the SM product. To improve the accuracy of the FY-3C SM product, an improved algorithm that can filter out the influences of the crops should be applied in the future.

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A Tale of Grass and Trees: Characterizing Vegetation Change in Payne’s Creek National Park, Belize from 1975 to 2019

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app10124356 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (12) ◽

pp. 4356 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Luke Blentlinger ◽

Hannah V. Herrero

Keyword(s):

Time Series ◽

National Park ◽

Vegetation Change ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Landsat Imagery ◽

Support Vector ◽

Svm Classifier ◽

Remotely Sensed Data ◽

Svm Classification

The lowland savannas of Belize are important areas to conserve for their biodiversity. This study takes place in Payne’s Creek National Park (PCNP) in the southern coastal plain of Belize. PCNP protects diverse terrestrial and coastal ecosystems, unique physical features, and wildlife. A Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification technique was used to classify the heterogeneous landscape of PCNP to characterize woody and non-woody conversion in a time-series of remotely sensed data from 1975, 1993, 2011 and 2019. Results indicate that the SVM classifier performs well in this small savanna landscape (average overall accuracy of 91.9%) with input variables of raw Landsat imagery, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), elevation, and soil type. Our change trajectory analysis shows that PCNP is a relatively stable landscape, but with certain areas that are prone to multiple conversions in the time-series. Woody vegetation mostly occurs in areas with variable slopes and riparian zones with increased nutrient availability. This study does not show extensive woody conversion in PCNP, contrary to widespread woody encroachment that is occurring in savannas on other continents. These high-performing SVM classification maps and future studies will be an important resource of information on Central American savanna vegetation dynamics for savanna scientists and land managers that use adaptive management for ecosystem preservation.

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Developing land-state maps of Tram Chim National Park in Vietnam based on monitoring results

Geodesy and Cartography ◽

10.22389/0016-7126-2020-963-9-53-64 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 963 (9) ◽

pp. 53-64

Author(s):

V.F. Kovyazin ◽

Thi Lan Anh Dang ◽

Viet Hung Dang

Keyword(s):

National Park ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Likelihood Method ◽

Wetland Area ◽

Water Index ◽

Effi Ciency ◽

Normalized Difference Water Index ◽

Specially Protected Natural Areas ◽

Protected Natural Areas

Tram Chim National Park in Southern Vietnam is a wetland area included in the system of specially protected natural areas (SPNA). For the purposes of land monitoring, we studied Landsat-5 and Sentinel-2B images obtained in 1991, 2006 and 2019. The methods of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and water objects – normalized difference water index (NDWI) were used to estimate the vegetation in National Park. The allocated land is classifi ed by the maximum likelihood method in ENVI 5.3 into categories. For each image, a statistical analysis of the land after classifi cation was performed. Between 1991 and 2019, land changes occurred in about 57 % of the Tram Chim National Park total area. As a result, the wetland area has signifi cantly reduced there due to climate change. However, the area of Melaleuca forests in Tram Chim National Park has increased due to the effi ciency of reforestation in protected areas. Melaleuca forests are also being restored.

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A Fused Variable by Night Light Images and MODIS Products for Improving Urban Built-Up Area Extraction

Technologies ◽

10.3390/technologies9020040 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 40

Author(s):

Guang Yang ◽

Yuntao Ma ◽

Jiaqi Hu

Keyword(s):

Surface Temperature ◽

Land Surface ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Extraction Methods ◽

Average Error ◽

Geographic Coordinate System ◽

Optimal Thresholds ◽

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer ◽

Spatial Locations

The boundary of urban built-up areas is the baseline data of a city. Rapid and accurate monitoring of urban built-up areas is the prerequisite for the boundary control and the layout of urban spaces. In recent years, the night light satellite sensors have been employed in urban built-up area extraction. However, the existing extraction methods have not fully considered the properties that directly reflect the urban built-up areas, like the land surface temperature. This research first converted multi-source data into a uniform projection, geographic coordinate system and resampling size. Then, a fused variable that integrated the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program/Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS) night light images, the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) surface temperature product and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) product was designed to extract the built-up areas. The fusion results showed that the values of the proposed index presented a sharper gradient within a smaller spatial range, compared with the only night light images. The extraction results were tested in both the area sizes and the spatial locations. The proposed index performed better in both accuracies (average error rate 1.10%) and visual perspective. We further discussed the regularity of the optimal thresholds in the final boundary determination. The optimal thresholds of the proposed index were more stable in different cases on the premise of higher accuracies.

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Testing Possible Scenario-Based Responses of Vegetation Under Expected Climatic Changes in Khuzestan Province

Air Soil and Water Research ◽

10.1177/11786221211013332 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 ◽

pp. 117862212110133

Author(s):

Hadi Eskandari Damaneh ◽

Meysam Jafari ◽

Hamed Eskandari Damaneh ◽

Marjan Behnia ◽

Asadollah Khoorani ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Kendall Test ◽

Baseline Period ◽

System Model ◽

Future Period ◽

Khuzestan Province ◽

Ecosystem Planning ◽

Slope Estimator ◽

Precipitation And Temperature

Projections of future scenarios are scarce in developing countries where human activities are increasing and impacting land uses. We present a research based on the assessment of the baseline trends of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), precipitation, and temperature data for the Khuzestan Province, Iran, from 1984 to 2015 compiled from ground-based and remotely sensed sources. To achieve this goal, the Sen’s slope estimator, the Mann-Kendall test, and Pearson’s correlation test were used. After that, future trends in precipitation and temperature were estimated using the Canadian Earth System Model (CanESM2) model and were then used to estimate the NDVI trend for two future periods: from 2016 to 2046 and from 2046 to 2075. Our results showed that during the baseline period, precipitation decreased at all stations: 33.3% displayed a significant trend and the others were insignificant ones. Over the same period, the temperature increased at 66.7% of stations while NDVI decreased at all stations. The NDVI–precipitation relationship was positive while NDVI–temperature showed an inverse trend. During the first of the possible future periods and under the RCP2.6, RCP4.5, and RCP8.5 scenarios, NDVI and precipitation decreased, and temperatures significantly increased. In addition, the same trends were observed during the second future period; most of these were statistically significant. We conclude that much assessments are valuable and integral components of effective ecosystem planning and decisions.

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An Effective Method for Generating Spatiotemporally Continuous 30 m Vegetation Products

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13040719 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 719

Author(s):

Xiuxia Li ◽

Shunlin Liang ◽

Huaan Jin

Keyword(s):

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Continuous Data ◽

Landsat Data ◽

Area Index ◽

Free Data ◽

Moderate Resolution ◽

Resolution Imaging ◽

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer ◽

Resolution Data

Leaf area index (LAI) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) are key parameters for various applications. However, due to sensor tradeoff and cloud contaminations, these data are often temporally intermittent and spatially discontinuous. To address the discontinuities, this study proposed a method based on spectral matching of 30 m discontinuous values from Landsat data and 500 m temporally continuous values from Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data. Experiments have proven that the proposed method can effectively yield spatiotemporally continuous vegetation products at 30 m spatial resolution. The results for three different study areas with NDVI and LAI showed that the method performs well in restoring the time series, fills in the missing data, and reasonably predicts the images. Remarkably, the proposed method could address the issue when no cloud-free data pairs are available close to the prediction date, because of the temporal information “borrowed” from coarser resolution data. Hence, the proposed method can make better use of partially obscured images. The reconstructed spatiotemporally continuous data have great potential for monitoring vegetation, agriculture, and environmental dynamics.

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Vegetative growth of grasslands based on hyper-temporal NDVI data from the Modis sensor

Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira ◽

10.1590/s0100-204x2016000700009 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 51 (7) ◽

pp. 858-868

Author(s):

Marcos Cicarini Hott ◽

Luis Marcelo Tavares de Carvalho ◽

Mauro Antonio Homem Antunes ◽

Polyanne Aguiar dos Santos ◽

Tássia Borges Arantes ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Vegetative Growth ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

High Growth ◽

Growth Index ◽

Data Series ◽

Moderate Resolution ◽

Resolution Imaging ◽

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer ◽

Very High

Abstract: The objective of this work was to analyze the development of grasslands in Zona da Mata, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, between 2000 and 2013, using a parameter based on the growth index of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (Modis) data series. Based on temporal NDVI profiles, which were used as indicators of edaphoclimatic conditions, the growth index (GI) was estimated for 16-day periods throughout the spring season of 2012 to early 2013, being compared with the average GI from 2000 to 2011, used as the reference period. Currently, the grassland areas in Zona da Mata occupy approximately 1.2 million hectares. According to the used methods, 177,322 ha (14.61%) of these grassland areas have very low vegetative growth; 577,698 ha (45.96%) have low growth; 433,475 ha (35.72%) have balanced growth; 39,980 ha (3.29%) have high growth; and 5,032 ha (0.41%) have very high vegetative growth. The grasslands had predominantly low vegetative growth during the studied period, and the NDVI/Modis series is a useful source of data for regional assessments.

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