Canopy chlorophyll content (Chl) closely relates to plant photosynthetic capacity, nitrogen status and productivity. The goal of this study is to develop remote sensing techniques for accurate estimation of canopy Chl during the entire growing season without re-parameterization of algorithms for two contrasting crop species, maize and soybean. These two crops represent different biochemical mec...

[1] MODIS-based leaf area index (LAI) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) are used to examine detailed information regarding actual growing season and total annual production for various regions. Overall, MODIS LAI has larger variability and demonstrates more information regarding the evolution and structure of the seasonal vegetation characteristics. In contrast, the NDVI saturat...

Drought threatens food and water security around the world, and this threat is likely to become more severe under climate change. High resolution predictive information can help farmers, water managers, and others to manage the effects of drought. We have created an open source tool to produce short-term forecasts of vegetation health at high spatial resolution, using data that are global in co...

Vegetation indices (VIs) derived from satellite reflectance measurements are often used as proxies of canopy activity to evaluate the impacts of drought and heat wave on gross primary production (GPP) through production efficiency models. However, GPP is also regulated by physiological processes that cannot be directly detected using reflectance measurements. This study analyzes the co-limitati...

We present an efficient method for monitoring woody (i.e., evergreen) and herbaceous (i.e., ephemeral) vegetation in Mediterranean forests at a sub pixel scale from Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). The method is based on the distinct development periods of those vegetation components. In the dry sea...

The Qinghai-Tibet (QT) Plateau Engineering Corridor is located in the hinterland of the QT Plateau, which is highly sensitive to global climate change. Climate change causes permafrost degradation, which subsequently affects vegetation growth. This study focused on the vegetation dynamics and their relationships with climate change and human activities in the region surrounding the QT Plateau E...

Vegetation recovery monitoring is critical for assessing denudation areas after landslides have occurred. A long-term and broad area investigation using remote sensing techniques is an efficient and cost-effective approach incorporating the consideration of radiometric correction and seasonality variations across multi-date satellite images. This paper investigates long-term vegetation recovery...

The assessment of relationships between satellite-derived vegetation indices and meteorological drought improves our understanding of how these indices respond to climatic changes. The combination of climate data and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) product of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imagery provided an opportunity to evaluate the impact of d...