Variability in MODIS NDVI in Relation to Southwest Monsoon over Western Ghats, India

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Eleven years (2000 to 2010) of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data, derived from Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Terra with 250 m resolution is used in the present study to discuss the changes in the vegetal cover over Western Ghats, India. The NDVI over Western Ghats (number of test sites are 16) showed increasing tendency and the pronounced changes in NDVI have been studied in the context of southwest monsoon's distribution and activity. The NDVI progression is observed from June with a minimum value of 0.179 and yielded to a maximum at 0.565 during September/October, on an average. The study then relates NDVI with different rainy events to understand the connection between the ground vegetation and the south west monsoon. The results of the study inferred are as follows: i) NDVI, Antecedent Precipitation Index (API) are in good agreement throughout the monsoon which is evidenced by correlation; ii) NDVI maintained good correlation with a number of Light and Moderate Rainy days alternatively but not with the number of Heavy Rainy days; iii) Relation of NDVI with Isolated, Scattered distributions and active monsoons is substantial; and iv) Rate of Green Up is captured by the satellite during the crop growing season over the Western Ghats.

Studies on Crop Yields and Their Extreme Value Analysis over India

“…Hence for a period of 30 years, the data has been used to compare with the crop yields. The MODIS Terra derived NDVI data sets from the MODIS imagery has been used by several people and the present authors also used these data sets to report the relation of vegetation with the summer monsoon rainfall over the regions of Western Ghats, India [21,22].…”

“…The authors also examined the variations of these crop yields with the satellite vegetation index, known as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for all India scale. It is well documented that NDVI is a best indicator of ground vegetal cover and can be used to study the crop growth, production and yields [21,27,28]. Here, the authors have compared the crop yields data with NDVI for the period 1982 to 2012.…”

Effects of Early Dry Season on Habitat Suitability for Migratory Birds in China’s Two Largest Freshwater Lake Wetlands after the Impoundment of Three Gorges Dam

“…Four groups of factors which directly influence the foraging and resting for the migratory birds, including the types of land cover, human disturbances, altitude and gradient, were selected in this study. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) (indicating landscape diversity) (Lakshmi Kumar et al, 2016) was not selected as environmental factor in this study because of the small scale of the study unit and the problem of band missing of satellite images.…”