Refining landsat-based annual NDVImax estimation using shape model fitting and phenological metrics

The annual maximum normalized difference vegetation index (NDVImax) is widely used as a surrogate for annual aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) of summer-green vegetation. Landsat data, with its 30-m spatial resolution and high temporal consistency, have revealed long-term changes in NDVIma...

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Main Authors: Lihao Zhang, Miaogen Shen, Licong Liu, Xuehong Chen, Ruyin Cao, Qi Dong, Yang Chen, Jin Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-07-01
Series:Ecological Informatics
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1574954125001165
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author Lihao Zhang
Miaogen Shen
Licong Liu
Xuehong Chen
Ruyin Cao
Qi Dong
Yang Chen
Jin Chen
author_facet Lihao Zhang
Miaogen Shen
Licong Liu
Xuehong Chen
Ruyin Cao
Qi Dong
Yang Chen
Jin Chen
author_sort Lihao Zhang
collection DOAJ
description The annual maximum normalized difference vegetation index (NDVImax) is widely used as a surrogate for annual aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) of summer-green vegetation. Landsat data, with its 30-m spatial resolution and high temporal consistency, have revealed long-term changes in NDVImax and ANPP. However, in cloudy regions with summer-green vegetation, such as the Tibetan Plateau, the scarcity of cloud-free Landsat NDVI observations complicates NDVImax estimation, particularly due to interannual variations in phenology and NDVImax. This study proposed a shape model fitting method that integrates interannual phenological similarity to estimate Landsat NDVImax, using the Tibetan Plateau as an example. For a given target year, an annual NDVI shape model was constructed using all cloud-free Landsat NDVI observations from that year and phenologically similar years, identified using phenological metrics derived from MODIS and GIMMS NDVI datasets. The model was then fitted to the target year's cloud-free NDVI time series to correct seasonal biases in NDVI observations. Validations with simulated and real images indicated that the proposed method outperformed several commonly used approaches in estimating NDVImax and detecting temporal trends across various conditions. The method more accurately captured the true annual NDVI trajectory and NDVImax date for the target year. It enabled the retrieval of long-term high-resolution NDVImax series for summer-green vegetation on the Tibetan Plateau and provided a reference for Landsat NDVImax extraction in other summer-green vegetation regions. Additionally, by addressing the observational biases, the method corrected previous overestimates of greening on Tibetan Plateau, thereby improving global change studies on summer-green vegetation.
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spelling doaj-art-0bdf877b719c4282bbcd1c4669513ffd2025-08-20T03:10:29ZengElsevierEcological Informatics1574-95412025-07-018710310710.1016/j.ecoinf.2025.103107Refining landsat-based annual NDVImax estimation using shape model fitting and phenological metricsLihao Zhang0Miaogen Shen1Licong Liu2Xuehong Chen3Ruyin Cao4Qi Dong5Yang Chen6Jin Chen7State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Hazards Risk Governance, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Hazards Risk Governance, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China; Corresponding author.State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Hazards Risk Governance, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Hazards Risk Governance, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, ChinaSchool of Resources and Environment, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Hazards Risk Governance, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, ChinaAerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Hazards Risk Governance, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, ChinaThe annual maximum normalized difference vegetation index (NDVImax) is widely used as a surrogate for annual aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) of summer-green vegetation. Landsat data, with its 30-m spatial resolution and high temporal consistency, have revealed long-term changes in NDVImax and ANPP. However, in cloudy regions with summer-green vegetation, such as the Tibetan Plateau, the scarcity of cloud-free Landsat NDVI observations complicates NDVImax estimation, particularly due to interannual variations in phenology and NDVImax. This study proposed a shape model fitting method that integrates interannual phenological similarity to estimate Landsat NDVImax, using the Tibetan Plateau as an example. For a given target year, an annual NDVI shape model was constructed using all cloud-free Landsat NDVI observations from that year and phenologically similar years, identified using phenological metrics derived from MODIS and GIMMS NDVI datasets. The model was then fitted to the target year's cloud-free NDVI time series to correct seasonal biases in NDVI observations. Validations with simulated and real images indicated that the proposed method outperformed several commonly used approaches in estimating NDVImax and detecting temporal trends across various conditions. The method more accurately captured the true annual NDVI trajectory and NDVImax date for the target year. It enabled the retrieval of long-term high-resolution NDVImax series for summer-green vegetation on the Tibetan Plateau and provided a reference for Landsat NDVImax extraction in other summer-green vegetation regions. Additionally, by addressing the observational biases, the method corrected previous overestimates of greening on Tibetan Plateau, thereby improving global change studies on summer-green vegetation.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1574954125001165Aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP)Landsat NDVIVegetation phenologyShape model fittingTibetan plateau
spellingShingle Lihao Zhang
Miaogen Shen
Licong Liu
Xuehong Chen
Ruyin Cao
Qi Dong
Yang Chen
Jin Chen
Refining landsat-based annual NDVImax estimation using shape model fitting and phenological metrics
Ecological Informatics
Aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP)
Landsat NDVI
Vegetation phenology
Shape model fitting
Tibetan plateau
title Refining landsat-based annual NDVImax estimation using shape model fitting and phenological metrics
title_full Refining landsat-based annual NDVImax estimation using shape model fitting and phenological metrics
title_fullStr Refining landsat-based annual NDVImax estimation using shape model fitting and phenological metrics
title_full_unstemmed Refining landsat-based annual NDVImax estimation using shape model fitting and phenological metrics
title_short Refining landsat-based annual NDVImax estimation using shape model fitting and phenological metrics
title_sort refining landsat based annual ndvimax estimation using shape model fitting and phenological metrics
topic Aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP)
Landsat NDVI
Vegetation phenology
Shape model fitting
Tibetan plateau
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1574954125001165
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AT licongliu refininglandsatbasedannualndvimaxestimationusingshapemodelfittingandphenologicalmetrics
AT xuehongchen refininglandsatbasedannualndvimaxestimationusingshapemodelfittingandphenologicalmetrics
AT ruyincao refininglandsatbasedannualndvimaxestimationusingshapemodelfittingandphenologicalmetrics
AT qidong refininglandsatbasedannualndvimaxestimationusingshapemodelfittingandphenologicalmetrics
AT yangchen refininglandsatbasedannualndvimaxestimationusingshapemodelfittingandphenologicalmetrics
AT jinchen refininglandsatbasedannualndvimaxestimationusingshapemodelfittingandphenologicalmetrics