Ecosystem Drought Response Timescales from Thermal Emission versus Shortwave Remote Sensing

Remote sensing is used for monitoring the impacts of meteorological drought on ecosystems, but few large-scale comparisons of the response timescale to drought of different vegetation remote sensing products are available. We correlated vegetation health products derived from polar-orbiting radiomet...

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Main Authors: Erika Andujar, Nir Y. Krakauer, Chuixiang Yi, Felix Kogan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2017-01-01
Series:Advances in Meteorology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/8434020
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author Erika Andujar
Nir Y. Krakauer
Chuixiang Yi
Felix Kogan
author_facet Erika Andujar
Nir Y. Krakauer
Chuixiang Yi
Felix Kogan
author_sort Erika Andujar
collection DOAJ
description Remote sensing is used for monitoring the impacts of meteorological drought on ecosystems, but few large-scale comparisons of the response timescale to drought of different vegetation remote sensing products are available. We correlated vegetation health products derived from polar-orbiting radiometer observations with a meteorological drought indicator available at different aggregation timescales, the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), to evaluate responses averaged globally and over latitude and biome. The remote sensing products are Vegetation Condition Index (VCI), which uses normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) to identify plant stress, Temperature Condition Index (TCI), based on thermal emission as a measure of surface temperature, and Vegetation Health Index (VHI), the average of VCI and TCI. Globally, TCI correlated best with 2-month timescale SPEI, VCI correlated best with longer timescale droughts (peak mean correlation at 13 months), and VHI correlated best at an intermediate timescale of 4 months. Our results suggest that thermal emission (TCI) may better detect incipient drought than vegetation color (VCI). VHI had the highest correlations with SPEI at aggregation times greater than 3 months and hence may be the most suitable product for monitoring the effects of long droughts.
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spelling doaj-art-6f8fdb2775cf407b86ec20836c2ac0792025-08-20T03:34:05ZengWileyAdvances in Meteorology1687-93091687-93172017-01-01201710.1155/2017/84340208434020Ecosystem Drought Response Timescales from Thermal Emission versus Shortwave Remote SensingErika Andujar0Nir Y. Krakauer1Chuixiang Yi2Felix Kogan3Department of Civil Engineering, The City College of New York, City University of New York, New York, NY, USADepartment of Civil Engineering, The City College of New York, City University of New York, New York, NY, USAProgram in Earth and Environmental Sciences, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USANOAA/NESDIS, College Park, MD, USARemote sensing is used for monitoring the impacts of meteorological drought on ecosystems, but few large-scale comparisons of the response timescale to drought of different vegetation remote sensing products are available. We correlated vegetation health products derived from polar-orbiting radiometer observations with a meteorological drought indicator available at different aggregation timescales, the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), to evaluate responses averaged globally and over latitude and biome. The remote sensing products are Vegetation Condition Index (VCI), which uses normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) to identify plant stress, Temperature Condition Index (TCI), based on thermal emission as a measure of surface temperature, and Vegetation Health Index (VHI), the average of VCI and TCI. Globally, TCI correlated best with 2-month timescale SPEI, VCI correlated best with longer timescale droughts (peak mean correlation at 13 months), and VHI correlated best at an intermediate timescale of 4 months. Our results suggest that thermal emission (TCI) may better detect incipient drought than vegetation color (VCI). VHI had the highest correlations with SPEI at aggregation times greater than 3 months and hence may be the most suitable product for monitoring the effects of long droughts.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/8434020
spellingShingle Erika Andujar
Nir Y. Krakauer
Chuixiang Yi
Felix Kogan
Ecosystem Drought Response Timescales from Thermal Emission versus Shortwave Remote Sensing
Advances in Meteorology
title Ecosystem Drought Response Timescales from Thermal Emission versus Shortwave Remote Sensing
title_full Ecosystem Drought Response Timescales from Thermal Emission versus Shortwave Remote Sensing
title_fullStr Ecosystem Drought Response Timescales from Thermal Emission versus Shortwave Remote Sensing
title_full_unstemmed Ecosystem Drought Response Timescales from Thermal Emission versus Shortwave Remote Sensing
title_short Ecosystem Drought Response Timescales from Thermal Emission versus Shortwave Remote Sensing
title_sort ecosystem drought response timescales from thermal emission versus shortwave remote sensing
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/8434020
work_keys_str_mv AT erikaandujar ecosystemdroughtresponsetimescalesfromthermalemissionversusshortwaveremotesensing
AT nirykrakauer ecosystemdroughtresponsetimescalesfromthermalemissionversusshortwaveremotesensing
AT chuixiangyi ecosystemdroughtresponsetimescalesfromthermalemissionversusshortwaveremotesensing
AT felixkogan ecosystemdroughtresponsetimescalesfromthermalemissionversusshortwaveremotesensing