A Spatiotemporal Analysis of Climatic Drivers for Observed Changes in Sahelian Vegetation Productivity (1982–2007)

Linear trend analysis and seasonal trend analysis are performed on gridded data of vegetation, rainfall, solar radiation flux, and air temperature, in order to examine the influence of the past three decades of climate variability and change on the Sahelian vegetation dynamics. Per-pixel correlation...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Per Skougaard Kaspersen, Rasmus Fensholt, Silvia Huber
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2011-01-01
Series:International Journal of Geophysics
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/715321
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849473471628705792
author Per Skougaard Kaspersen
Rasmus Fensholt
Silvia Huber
author_facet Per Skougaard Kaspersen
Rasmus Fensholt
Silvia Huber
author_sort Per Skougaard Kaspersen
collection DOAJ
description Linear trend analysis and seasonal trend analysis are performed on gridded data of vegetation, rainfall, solar radiation flux, and air temperature, in order to examine the influence of the past three decades of climate variability and change on the Sahelian vegetation dynamics. Per-pixel correlation analyses are conducted on annual and monthly data, and analyses of change in the potential climatic constraints to the natural vegetation development from 1982–2007 are performed. The results reveal two distinct periods: (a) 1982–1994 marked by large increases in vegetation productivity and rainfall and little change in average air temperatures and solar radiation and (b) 1995–2007 characterized by no distinct trends in vegetation productivity and rainfall and increase in average air temperatures and decrease in solar radiation flux. Correlations between vegetation productivity and climatic constraints were found to be statistically significant only for rainfall explaining only a moderate degree of observed NDVI variation, indicating that nonclimatic factors are also important for the Sahelian vegetation dynamics.
format Article
id doaj-art-d2bbeccb84ef4ebb807b24b10b6b183f
institution Kabale University
issn 1687-885X
1687-8868
language English
publishDate 2011-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series International Journal of Geophysics
spelling doaj-art-d2bbeccb84ef4ebb807b24b10b6b183f2025-08-20T03:24:07ZengWileyInternational Journal of Geophysics1687-885X1687-88682011-01-01201110.1155/2011/715321715321A Spatiotemporal Analysis of Climatic Drivers for Observed Changes in Sahelian Vegetation Productivity (1982–2007)Per Skougaard Kaspersen0Rasmus Fensholt1Silvia Huber2Department of Geography and Geology, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 10, 1350 Copenhagen, DenmarkDepartment of Geography and Geology, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 10, 1350 Copenhagen, DenmarkDepartment of Geography and Geology, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 10, 1350 Copenhagen, DenmarkLinear trend analysis and seasonal trend analysis are performed on gridded data of vegetation, rainfall, solar radiation flux, and air temperature, in order to examine the influence of the past three decades of climate variability and change on the Sahelian vegetation dynamics. Per-pixel correlation analyses are conducted on annual and monthly data, and analyses of change in the potential climatic constraints to the natural vegetation development from 1982–2007 are performed. The results reveal two distinct periods: (a) 1982–1994 marked by large increases in vegetation productivity and rainfall and little change in average air temperatures and solar radiation and (b) 1995–2007 characterized by no distinct trends in vegetation productivity and rainfall and increase in average air temperatures and decrease in solar radiation flux. Correlations between vegetation productivity and climatic constraints were found to be statistically significant only for rainfall explaining only a moderate degree of observed NDVI variation, indicating that nonclimatic factors are also important for the Sahelian vegetation dynamics.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/715321
spellingShingle Per Skougaard Kaspersen
Rasmus Fensholt
Silvia Huber
A Spatiotemporal Analysis of Climatic Drivers for Observed Changes in Sahelian Vegetation Productivity (1982–2007)
International Journal of Geophysics
title A Spatiotemporal Analysis of Climatic Drivers for Observed Changes in Sahelian Vegetation Productivity (1982–2007)
title_full A Spatiotemporal Analysis of Climatic Drivers for Observed Changes in Sahelian Vegetation Productivity (1982–2007)
title_fullStr A Spatiotemporal Analysis of Climatic Drivers for Observed Changes in Sahelian Vegetation Productivity (1982–2007)
title_full_unstemmed A Spatiotemporal Analysis of Climatic Drivers for Observed Changes in Sahelian Vegetation Productivity (1982–2007)
title_short A Spatiotemporal Analysis of Climatic Drivers for Observed Changes in Sahelian Vegetation Productivity (1982–2007)
title_sort spatiotemporal analysis of climatic drivers for observed changes in sahelian vegetation productivity 1982 2007
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/715321
work_keys_str_mv AT perskougaardkaspersen aspatiotemporalanalysisofclimaticdriversforobservedchangesinsahelianvegetationproductivity19822007
AT rasmusfensholt aspatiotemporalanalysisofclimaticdriversforobservedchangesinsahelianvegetationproductivity19822007
AT silviahuber aspatiotemporalanalysisofclimaticdriversforobservedchangesinsahelianvegetationproductivity19822007
AT perskougaardkaspersen spatiotemporalanalysisofclimaticdriversforobservedchangesinsahelianvegetationproductivity19822007
AT rasmusfensholt spatiotemporalanalysisofclimaticdriversforobservedchangesinsahelianvegetationproductivity19822007
AT silviahuber spatiotemporalanalysisofclimaticdriversforobservedchangesinsahelianvegetationproductivity19822007