Monitoring the vegetation health over India during contrasting monsoon years using satellite remote sensing indices

作者：Kundu Arnab; Dwivedi Suneet^*; Dutta Dipanwita

来源：Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 2016, 9(2): 144.

DOI：10.1007/s12517-015-2185-9

• VCI
• TCI
• VHI
• SPI
• SWI
• Drought monitoring
• Monsoon
• Remote sensing

The detection and monitoring of drought-related vegetation stress over a large spatial area have become possible with the use of satellite-based remote sensing indices, namely, vegetation condition index (VCI) and temperature condition index (TCI). In particular, the water (precipitation)-related moisture stress during drought may be determined using the VCI, while the temperature-related stress using the TCI. An attempt is made here to investigate and demonstrate the importance of these indices over India during the contrasting monsoon years, 2009, 2010, and 2013, termed as meteorological drought, wet, and normal monsoon years, respectively. The overall health of the vegetation during these years is compared using the vegetation health index (VHI). The advantage of VHI over the VCI and TCI is also shown. An assessment of drought over India is then made using the combined information of VCI, TCI, and VHI. The occurrence of vegetative drought over Rajasthan, Gujrat, and Andhra Pradesh is confirmed using drought assessment index, which shows very low value (well below 40) during 2009 over these regions. The area-averaged time series indices as well as spatial maps over the state of Uttar Pradesh show higher thermal stress and poor vegetation health during 2009 as compared to 2010 and 2013. The standardized precipitation index (SPI) and standardized water-level index (SWI) are used to validate the results obtained using the remote sensing indices.

• 出版日期2016-2