Vegetation health and vigor can be assessed with data from multiand hyperspectral airborne and satelliteborne sensors using index products such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Recent advances in unmanned aerial systems (UAS) technology have created the opportunity to access these same image data sets in a more cost effective manner with higher temporal and spatial resoluti...

In the first section of this study, we explored the relationship between ring width index (RWI) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) time series on varying timescales and spatial resolutions, hypothesizing positive associations between RWI and current and previousyear NDVI at 69 forest sites scattered in the Northern Hemisphere. We noted that the relationship between RWI and NDVI v...

The effect of vegetation on temperature is an emerging topic in the climate science community. Existing studies have mostly examined the effects of vegetation on daytime temperature (Tmax), whereas this study investigates the effects on nighttime temperature (Tmin). Ground measurements from 53 sites across northeastern China (NEC) from 1982 to 2006 show that early summer (June) Tmax and Tmin in...

This study investigated the spatiotemporal variation of vegetation growth and the influence of climatic drivers from 1982 to 2011 across China using datasets from the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and climatic drivers. Long term trends, significance and abrupt change points of interannual NDVI time series were analyzed. We applied both simple regression and multi-regression mode...

The covariability between the interannual changes of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and actual evapotranspiration was examined. This study employed NDVI datasets from the Pathfinder AVHRR Land (PAL) data and the Global Inventory Monitoring and Modeling Studies (GIMMS) group to reduce the uncertainty that may be involved in the NDVI time series. The analysis was carried out for th...

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is generally recognized as a good indicator of terrestrial vegetation productivity. Understanding climatic influences, in particular precipitation and temperature, on NDVI enables prediction of productivity changes under different climatic scenarios. We examined temporal responses of remotely sensed NDVI to precipitation and temperature during a nin...

Vegetation indices are useful tools to remotely estimate several important parameters related to ecosystem functioning. However, improving and validating estimations for a wide range of vegetation types are necessary. In this study, we provide a methodology for the estimation of the leaf area index (LAI) in a tropical dry forest (TDF) using the light diffusion through the canopy as a function o...

This paper describes the long-term effects on vegetation following the catastrophic fire in 1987 on the northern Great Xing’an Mountain by analyzing the AVHRR GIMMS 15-day composite normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) dataset. Both temporal and spatial characteristics were analyzed for natural regeneration and tree planting scenarios from 1984 to 2006. Regressing post-fire NDVI values...

Satellites have provided large-scale monitoring of vegetation for over three decades, and several satellite-based Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) datasets have been produced. Here we intercompare four long-term NDVI datasets based largely on the AVHRR sensor (NDVIg, NDVI3g, STAR, VIP) and three datasets based on newer sensors (SPOT, Terra, Aqua) and evaluate the effectiveness of h...

From winter 2009 to spring 2010, due to decreasing precipitation and high temperature, Southwest China experienced the worst meteorological drought in 60 years. The drought has impacted large areas of Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangxi and Sichuan provinces. In this paper, climate data (precipitation and temperature) and SPOT VGT Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data were combined with land ...