Moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data are very suitable for vast extent, long term and dynamic drought monitoring for its high temporal resolution, high spectral resolution and moderate spatial ...Moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data are very suitable for vast extent, long term and dynamic drought monitoring for its high temporal resolution, high spectral resolution and moderate spatial resolution. The composite Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and composite land surface temperature (Ts) obtained from MODIS data MOD11A2 and MOD13A2 were used to construct the EVI-Ts space. And Temperature Vegetation Dryness Index (TVDI) was calculated to evaluate the agriculture drought in Guangxi province, China in October of 2006. The results showed that the drought area in Guangxi was evidently increasing and continuously deteriorating from the middle of September to the middle of November. The TVDI, coming from the EVI-Ts space, could effectively indicate the spatial distribution and temporal evolution of drought, so that it could provide a strong technical support for the forecasting agricultural drought in south China.展开更多
Using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS) data from the dry season during 2010–2012 over the whole Yunnan Province, an improved temperature vegetation dryness index(iTVDI), in which a parabolic dry-e...Using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS) data from the dry season during 2010–2012 over the whole Yunnan Province, an improved temperature vegetation dryness index(iTVDI), in which a parabolic dry-edge equation replaces the traditional linear dry-edge equation, was developed, to reveal the regional drought regime in the dry season. After calculating the correlation coefficient, root-mean-square error, and standard deviation between the iTVDI and observed topsoil moisture at 10 and 20 cm for seven sites, the effectiveness of the new index in depicting topsoil moisture conditions was verified. The drought area indicated by iTVDI mapping was then compared with the drought-affected area reported by the local government. The results indicated that the iTVDI can monitor drought more accurately than the traditional TVDI during the dry season in Yunnan Province. Using iTVDI facilitates drought warning and irrigation scheduling, and the expectation is that this new index can be broadly applied in other areas.展开更多
The temperature-vegetation index space coupled with information of surface temperature and vegetation, is an important method to realize soil moisture estimation and agricultural drought monitoring. In order to estima...The temperature-vegetation index space coupled with information of surface temperature and vegetation, is an important method to realize soil moisture estimation and agricultural drought monitoring. In order to estimate the soil moisture in the study area, we collected soil relative humidity of Agricultural meteorological station and downloaded Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) image data. Then, the temperature vegetation dryness index was calculated based on the MODIS Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and land surface temperature (LST). A correlation analysis of TVDI and soil relative humidity at depth of 10 cm was carried out and an empirical model of moisture estimation was established. Finally, another set of data was used to validate the accuracy of model. The results show that the TVDI method can be used to achieve the soil moisture in the study area. The empirical model has certain universality in the study area, and obtains a high accuracy of soil moisture estimation with an R2 of 0.374 and RMSE of 11.73%.展开更多
Landsat TM data(June 23,1988,May 6,2007) and Landsat ETM+data(May 10,2000) of Neijiang City,Sichuan Province was taken as the data source,brightness temperature of the study area was obtained by using TM/ETM+thermal i...Landsat TM data(June 23,1988,May 6,2007) and Landsat ETM+data(May 10,2000) of Neijiang City,Sichuan Province was taken as the data source,brightness temperature of the study area was obtained by using TM/ETM+thermal infrared wave,and also normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI) was calculated.NDVI of the study area on June 23,1988,May 6,2007,and May 10,2000 was respectively obtained by using Band Math,the least square fitting was adopted to simulate the correlation between surface temperature and vegetation cover.Moreover,linear regression analysis of the correlation between vegetation cover and NDVI was carried out in Excel.The results showed that(a) most of the constructed area has a low NDVI value because there are large areas of hard surface such as buildings and roads,but less vegetation cover;(b) the quarters with better vegetation cover have higher NDVI values;the Tuojiang River has a negative NDVI value;rural areas have better vegetation cover and higher NDVI values.Brightness temperature and vegetation cover has distinct negative correlation,specifically,the higher the vegetation cover is,the lower the surface temperature is,and vice versa.展开更多
Ibadan has experienced a rapid urbanization over the past few decades due to heavy influx of people from different parts of the country as a result of improved economy of the region. This development induced a great c...Ibadan has experienced a rapid urbanization over the past few decades due to heavy influx of people from different parts of the country as a result of improved economy of the region. This development induced a great change in land use and land cover over the region which has become a major environmental concern recently. This study assessed Land Surface Temperature (LST) and its spatio-temporal relationship with land cover type over Ibadan. Land use/Land cover dynamics were assessed using index maps generated from Landsat Satellite data (TM, ETM+ and OLI) of Ibadan. The corrected thermal Infrared bands of the Landsat data were used to retrieve LST. The results revealed a notable increase in built-up areas from 5.64% of the total land cover area in 1984 to 14.05% in 2014. This change has caused increase in surface temperature of Ibadan from 3.56?C to 8.54?C between 1984 and 2014 respectively. The study recorded a continuous decrease in the vegetal part of Ibadan (from 43.28% in 1984 to 14.76 in 2014) which could be attributed to anthropogenic activities as the vegetated land area lost was been converted to other form of land use. The change was found to be positively correlated to the surface temperature intensity over the region with correlation coefficient, r value of 0.9251, 0.8256 and 0.7017 in 1984, 2000 and 2014 respectively. It is recommended that Policies should be considered for planting trees, new guidelines for urban landscape design and construction.展开更多
Land cover change is a major challenge for many developing countries. Spatiotemporal information on this change is essential for monitoring global terrestrial ecosystem carbon, climate and biosphere exchange, and land...Land cover change is a major challenge for many developing countries. Spatiotemporal information on this change is essential for monitoring global terrestrial ecosystem carbon, climate and biosphere exchange, and land use management. A combination of LST and the EVI indices in the global disturbance index (DI) has been proven to be useful for detecting and monitoring of changes in land covers at continental scales. However, this model has not been adequately applied or assessed in tropical regions. We aimed to demonstrate and evaluate the DI algorithm used to detect spatial change in land covers in Lao tropical forests. We used the land surface temperature and enhanced vegetation index of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer time-series products from 2006-2012. We used two dates Google EarthTM images in 2006 and 2012 as ground truth data for accuracy assessment of the model. This research demonstrated that the DI was capable of detecting vegetation changes during seven-year periods with high overall accuracy;however, it showed low accuracy in detecting vegetation decrease.展开更多
Land use/land cover change (LUCC) mapping and analysis using multi-temporal normalize difference vegetation index (NDVI) data have been well documented. Recent empirical studies have documented that many new methods w...Land use/land cover change (LUCC) mapping and analysis using multi-temporal normalize difference vegetation index (NDVI) data have been well documented. Recent empirical studies have documented that many new methods with high accuracy of retrieved land surface temperature ( Ts) have been developed. Thus, the combination of land surface temperature and NDVI has the greatest potential to improve the surface vegetation dynamic monitoring. In this study, the following objectives are pursued to: (1) introduce the practical method to produce the Ts, NDVI and Ts/NDVI based on remotely sensed data; (2) investigate the different retrieved result of vegetation cover information from NDVI, Ts and Ts/NDVI data sets, and analyze the intra-annual time trajectories of different vegetation cover categories in the NDVI- Ts space for farming-pastoral zone in North China, and (3) quantitative analysis the difference in using NDVI, Ts and Ts/NDVI data sets to express information based on the indices (information entropy and averaged information grads), and evaluate the relative role of Ts/NDVI data set in the discrimination of different vegetation cover categories through comparison to traditional NDVI data set.展开更多
Soil temperatures at different depths down the soil profile are important agro-meteorological indicators which are necessary for ecological modeling and precision agricultural activities. In this paper, using time ser...Soil temperatures at different depths down the soil profile are important agro-meteorological indicators which are necessary for ecological modeling and precision agricultural activities. In this paper, using time series of soil temperature(ST) measured at different depths(0, 5, 10, 20, and 40 cm) at agro-meteorological stations in northern China as reference data, ST was estimated from land surface temperature(LST) and normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI) derived from AQUA/TERRA MODIS data, and solar declination(Ds) in univariate and multivariate linear regression models. Results showed that when daytime LST is used as predictor, the coefficient of determination(R^2) values decrease from the 0 cm layer to the 40 cm layer. Additionally, with the use of nighttime LST as predictor, the R^2 values were relatively higher at 5, 10 and 15 cm depths than those at 0, 20 and 40 cm depths. It is further observed that the multiple linear regression models for soil temperature estimation outperform the univariate linear regression models based on the root mean squared errors(RMSEs) and R^2. These results have demonstrated the potential of MODIS data in tandem with the Ds parameter for soil temperature estimation at the upper layers of the soil profile where plant roots grow in. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt at the synergistic use of LST, NDVI and Ds for soil temperature estimation at different depths of the upper layers of the soil profile, representing a significant contribution to soil remote sensing.展开更多
Land surface temperature(LST) is the skin temperature of the earth surface. LST depends on the amount of sunlight received by any geographical area. Apart from sun light, LST is also affected by the land cover, which ...Land surface temperature(LST) is the skin temperature of the earth surface. LST depends on the amount of sunlight received by any geographical area. Apart from sun light, LST is also affected by the land cover, which leads to change in land surface temperature. Impact of land cover change(LCC) on LST has been assessed using Landsat TM5, Landsat 8 TIRS/OLI and Digital Elevation Model(ASTER) for Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh, India. In the present study, Spiti valley was divided into three altitudinal zones to check the pattern of changing land cover along different altitudes and LST was calculated for all the four land cover categories extracted from remote sensing data for the years of 1990 and 2015. Matrix table was used as a technique to evaluate the land cover change between two different years. Matrix table shows that as a whole, about 2,151,647 ha(30%) area of Spiti valley experienced change in land cover in the last 25 years. The result also shows vegetation and water bodies increased by 107,560.2 ha(605.87%) and 45 ha(0.98%), respectively. Snow cover and barren land decreased by 19,016.5 ha(23.92%) and 88,589(14.14%), during the study period. A significant increase has been noticed in vegetation amongst all land cover types. Minimum, maximum and mean LST for three altitudinal zones have been calculated. The mean LST recorded was 11℃ in 1990 but it rose by 2℃ and reached to 13℃ in 2015. Changes in LST were obtained for each land cover categories. The mean temperature of different land cover types was calculated by averaging value of all pixels of a given land cover types. The mean LST of vegetation, barren land, snow cover and water body increased by 6℃, 9℃, 1℃, and 7℃, respectively. Further, relationships between LST, Normalized Difference Snow Index(NDSI), and Normalised Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI) were established using Linear Regression.展开更多
Terrestrial ecosystems are an important part of Earth systems,and they are undergoing remarkable changes in response to global warming.This study investigates the response of the terrestrial vegetation distribution an...Terrestrial ecosystems are an important part of Earth systems,and they are undergoing remarkable changes in response to global warming.This study investigates the response of the terrestrial vegetation distribution and carbon fluxes to global warming by using the new dynamic global vegetation model in the second version of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS)Earth System Model(CAS-ESM2).We conducted two sets of simulations,a present-day simulation and a future simulation,which were forced by the present-day climate during 1981-2000 and the future climate during 2081-2100,respectively,as derived from RCP8.5 outputs in CMIP5.CO_(2)concentration is kept constant in all simulations to isolate CO_(2)-fertilization effects.The results show an overall increase in vegetation coverage in response to global warming,which is the net result of the greening in the mid-high latitudes and the browning in the tropics.The results also show an enhancement in carbon fluxes in response to global warming,including gross primary productivity,net primary productivity,and autotrophic respiration.We found that the changes in vegetation coverage were significantly correlated with changes in surface air temperature,reflecting the dominant role of temperature,while the changes in carbon fluxes were caused by the combined effects of leaf area index,temperature,and precipitation.This study applies the CAS-ESM2 to investigate the response of terrestrial ecosystems to climate warming.Even though the interpretation of the results is limited by isolating CO_(2)-fertilization effects,this application is still beneficial for adding to our understanding of vegetation processes and to further improve upon model parameterizations.展开更多
Vegetation growth status is an important indicator of ecological security.The Tarim River Basin is located in the inland arid region of Northwest China and has a highly fragile ecological environment.Assessing the veg...Vegetation growth status is an important indicator of ecological security.The Tarim River Basin is located in the inland arid region of Northwest China and has a highly fragile ecological environment.Assessing the vegetation net primary productivity(NPP)of the Tarim River Basin can provide insights into the vegetation growth variations in the region.Therefore,based on the Google Earth Engine(GEE)cloud platform,we studied the spatiotemporal variation of vegetation NPP in the Tarim River Basin(except for the eastern Gobi and Kumutag deserts)from 2001 to 2020 and analyzed the correlations between vegetation NPP and meteorological factors(air temperature and precipitation)using the Sen slope estimation method,coefficient of variation,and rescaled range analysis method.In terms of temporal characteristics,vegetation NPP in the Tarim River Basin showed an overall fluctuating upward trend from 2001 to 2020,with the smallest value of 118.99 g C/(m2•a)in 2001 and the largest value of 155.07 g C/(m2•a)in 2017.Regarding the spatial characteristics,vegetation NPP in the Tarim River Basin showed a downward trend from northwest to southeast along the outer edge of the study area.The annual average value of vegetation NPP was 133.35 g C/(m2•a),and the area with annual average vegetation NPP values greater than 100.00 g C/(m2•a)was 82,638.75 km2,accounting for 57.76%of the basin.The future trend of vegetation NPP was dominated by anti-continuity characteristic;the percentage of the area with anti-continuity characteristic was 63.57%.The area with a significant positive correlation between vegetation NPP and air temperature accounted for 53.74%of the regions that passed the significance test,while the area with a significant positive correlation between vegetation NPP and precipitation occupied 98.68%of the regions that passed the significance test.Hence,the effect of precipitation on vegetation NPP was greater than that of air temperature.The results of this study improve the understanding on the spatiotemporal variation of vegetation NPP in the Tarim River Basin and the impact of meteorological factors on vegetation NPP.展开更多
Climatic factors impact vegetation. Our study was to examine and analyze the climate variability and relationship to vegetation in Garamba National Park of the Democratic Republic of the Congo over the past 30 years (...Climatic factors impact vegetation. Our study was to examine and analyze the climate variability and relationship to vegetation in Garamba National Park of the Democratic Republic of the Congo over the past 30 years (1990 to 2020), then to relate the climatic variables. Mann Kendall’s non parametric test, ANOVA, and p-value tests are used to analyze existing trends and relationships between vegetation cover, climatic factors, land surface temperature (LST) and normalized difference in temperature Vegetation index (NDVI), Enhanced vegetation index (EVI) in Garamba national park which is of particular importance for the network of protected areas of the Democratic republic of Congo because its position at the northern limit of the savanna-forest mosaics gives it a unique biodiversity. The southern part of the park is dominated by grassy shrub savannas. The results showed that: 1) In Garamba, the monthly correlation coefficient of Kendall and Pearsan between temperature and precipitation are negative respectively 0.763 and <span style="white-space:nowrap;">−</span>0.876 (p-value < 0.00001). 2) Annually during the three decades in Garamba, the correlation between precipitation and NDVI is significant 0.416 (Kendall) and 0.496 (Pearsan);the same between precipitation and EVI 0.291 (Kendall) and 0.496 (Pearsan) while LST and precipitation are negatively correlated (p-value < 0.00001).展开更多
This study employs Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) thermal infrared satellite data to compare land surface temperature of two cities in Ghana: Accra and Kumasi. These cities have human populations above 2 mill...This study employs Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) thermal infrared satellite data to compare land surface temperature of two cities in Ghana: Accra and Kumasi. These cities have human populations above 2 million and the corresponding anthropogenic impact on their environments significantly. Images were acquired with minimum cloud cover (<10%) from both dry and rainy seasons between December to August. Image preprocessing and rectification using ArcGIS 10.8 software w<span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">ere</span></span></span><span><span><span style="font-family:;" "=""><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> used. The shapefiles of Accra and Kumasi were used to extract from the full scenes to subset the study area. Thermal band data numbers were converted to Top of Atmospheric Spectral Radiance using radiance rescaling factors. To determine the density of green on a patch of land, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was calculated by using red and near-infrared bands </span><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">i.e</span></i></span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">.</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> Band 4 and Band 5. Land surface emissivity (LSE) was also calculated to determine the efficiency of transmitting thermal energy across the surface into the atmosphere. Results of the study show variation of temperatures between different locations in two urban areas. The study found Accra to have experienced higher and lower dry season and wet season temperatures, respectively. The temperature ranges corresponding to the dry and wet seasons were found to be 21.0985</span></span></span><span><span><span style="font-family:;" "=""><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;">o</span></span></span>C</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> to 46.1314</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;">o</span></span></span>C</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">, and, 18.3437</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;">o</span></span></span>C</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> to 30.9693</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;">o</span></span></span>C</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> respectively. Results of Kumasi also show a higher range of temperatures from 32.6986</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;">o</span></span></span>C</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> to 19.1077<span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;">o</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">C</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> during the dry season. In the wet season, temperatures ranged from 26.4142</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;">o</span></span></span>C</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> to </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">-</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">0</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">.898728</span></span></span><span><span><span style="font-family:;" "=""><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;">o</span></span></span>C</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">. Among the reasons for the cities of Accra and Kumasi recorded higher than corresponding rural areas’ values can be attributed to the urban heat islands’ phenomenon.</span></span></span></span>展开更多
This knowledge of land surface temperature and its spatial variations within a city environment is of prime importance to the study of urban climate and human-environment interactions. Few studies have examined the in...This knowledge of land surface temperature and its spatial variations within a city environment is of prime importance to the study of urban climate and human-environment interactions. Few studies have examined the influence of land use and terrain on the surface temperature effects of semi-arid mountainous urban areas. This study investigates the urban environment characterization and its effects on surface temperature using remote sensing. The methodologies adapted for this study are geometric and radiometric corrections of satellite data, extraction of land use/land cover and digital elevation model, estimation of vegetation density using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and estimation of surface temperature and emissivity using temperature emissivity separation (TES) algorithm. Finally geospatial model and statistical techniques are used for assessing the overall impact of urban environmental characterization on urban climate of semi-arid region of Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Herein, results reveal that the spatial distribution of surface temperature was affected by land use/land cover (LULC) and topography. The high dense built-up and commercial/industrial areas display higher surface temperature in comparison with surrounding lands. There is gradual decrease of LULC classes’ surface temperature with the increase in altitude. The cooling effect towards the surrounding urban built-up area is found increasing at the hill located vegetated area, the downward slope and valley terrain inside the recreational park. Therefore the spatial variation in surface temperature also reflected the effects of topography on LULC classes. Suitable mountainous land use utilization would help to expand the cooling effect. In the future, the outcomes of this study could be used to build environmentally sustainable urban planning suitable to semi-arid regions and to create practices that consider the local weather environment in urban planning.展开更多
The satellite-based vegetation condition index(VCI) and temperature condition index(TCI) have been used extensively for drought detection and tracking, the assessment of weather impacts on vegetation and evaluation of...The satellite-based vegetation condition index(VCI) and temperature condition index(TCI) have been used extensively for drought detection and tracking, the assessment of weather impacts on vegetation and evaluation of the health and productivity of vegetation. In this study, in order to detect and monitor the growth condition of vegetation, we have collected data on vegetation indices and land surface temperature derived from MODIS(2001-2012) and defined a vegetation health index(VHI) based on VCI and TCI for assessing vegetation health condition in the Three Gorges Area, China(TGA). The results of the study show that temporal and spatial characteristics of vegetation health condition can be detected, tracked and mapped by the VHI index. In most parts of the TGA, the vegetation health condition showed an overall increasing trend during the study period, especially in Wulong, Fengdu, Shizhu and other regions located in the midstream sections of the Three Gorges Reservoir. In addition, the four studied vegetation types all showed clear increasing trends during the study period. The increasing trend in the vegetation health condition shows a strong positive correlation with topographical slope and altitude(below 500 m). Over the seasons, this trend is strongest in autumn, followed by spring. However, the correlations between vegetation health condition and climatic factors are more frequently significant in summer and winter than in autumn and spring. The vegetation health condition has been low in 2006 and 2011. This finding is consistent with the extreme weather conditions in those two years. However, only in the summer is vegetation health condition significantly correlated with three climatic factors in most of the study area. This result implies that vegetation growth may show a lagged response to climatic factors and may also be affected by human activities, including agricultural activities, industrial activities and other economic activities.展开更多
研究不同遥感干旱监测方法在黄土高原东部山西省的适用性,对于提高地形复杂区域农业气象服务水平和防灾减灾能力具有重要意义。本文利用风云气象卫星数据,结合气象站观测资料,通过本地化修正作物水分胁迫指数(Crop Water Stress Index,C...研究不同遥感干旱监测方法在黄土高原东部山西省的适用性,对于提高地形复杂区域农业气象服务水平和防灾减灾能力具有重要意义。本文利用风云气象卫星数据,结合气象站观测资料,通过本地化修正作物水分胁迫指数(Crop Water Stress Index,CWSI)中地形和天气参数,对比分析2022年5月6—12日降雨过程前后及整个作物生长期植被供水指数(Vegetation Supply Water Index,VSWI)、温度植被指数(Temperature Vegetation Dryness Index,TVDI)和CWSI 3种遥感干旱监测指数在山西省的监测效果。结果表明:一次降雨过程前后,CWSI、TVDI、VSWI均表现出与实测土壤墒情同样的变化趋势,但当旱情严重时,TVDI、VSWI易低估旱情等级,反之,则易高估旱情等级,而CWSI均接近于实测土壤墒情,并能够实时反映降雨对土壤墒情的影响;整个作物生长期,CWSI均与实测墒情相吻合,TVDI只在春季时与实测墒情接近,对于植被覆盖较好的夏、秋季则效果较差,VSWI则不适用于地形复杂区域干旱监测。此外,前期累积遥感干旱监测结果比当天监测结果更接近于地表浅层土壤墒情。总之,修正后CWSI能够有效反映山西省遥感干旱状况,为黄土高原复杂地形区遥感干旱监测提供了新的尝试。展开更多
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China (40461001)
文摘Moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data are very suitable for vast extent, long term and dynamic drought monitoring for its high temporal resolution, high spectral resolution and moderate spatial resolution. The composite Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and composite land surface temperature (Ts) obtained from MODIS data MOD11A2 and MOD13A2 were used to construct the EVI-Ts space. And Temperature Vegetation Dryness Index (TVDI) was calculated to evaluate the agriculture drought in Guangxi province, China in October of 2006. The results showed that the drought area in Guangxi was evidently increasing and continuously deteriorating from the middle of September to the middle of November. The TVDI, coming from the EVI-Ts space, could effectively indicate the spatial distribution and temporal evolution of drought, so that it could provide a strong technical support for the forecasting agricultural drought in south China.
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFA0601601)National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants Nos. U1502233,41405001)+1 种基金the Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Climate ChangePh.D. Programs Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (20135301120010)
文摘Using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS) data from the dry season during 2010–2012 over the whole Yunnan Province, an improved temperature vegetation dryness index(iTVDI), in which a parabolic dry-edge equation replaces the traditional linear dry-edge equation, was developed, to reveal the regional drought regime in the dry season. After calculating the correlation coefficient, root-mean-square error, and standard deviation between the iTVDI and observed topsoil moisture at 10 and 20 cm for seven sites, the effectiveness of the new index in depicting topsoil moisture conditions was verified. The drought area indicated by iTVDI mapping was then compared with the drought-affected area reported by the local government. The results indicated that the iTVDI can monitor drought more accurately than the traditional TVDI during the dry season in Yunnan Province. Using iTVDI facilitates drought warning and irrigation scheduling, and the expectation is that this new index can be broadly applied in other areas.
文摘The temperature-vegetation index space coupled with information of surface temperature and vegetation, is an important method to realize soil moisture estimation and agricultural drought monitoring. In order to estimate the soil moisture in the study area, we collected soil relative humidity of Agricultural meteorological station and downloaded Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) image data. Then, the temperature vegetation dryness index was calculated based on the MODIS Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and land surface temperature (LST). A correlation analysis of TVDI and soil relative humidity at depth of 10 cm was carried out and an empirical model of moisture estimation was established. Finally, another set of data was used to validate the accuracy of model. The results show that the TVDI method can be used to achieve the soil moisture in the study area. The empirical model has certain universality in the study area, and obtains a high accuracy of soil moisture estimation with an R2 of 0.374 and RMSE of 11.73%.
文摘Landsat TM data(June 23,1988,May 6,2007) and Landsat ETM+data(May 10,2000) of Neijiang City,Sichuan Province was taken as the data source,brightness temperature of the study area was obtained by using TM/ETM+thermal infrared wave,and also normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI) was calculated.NDVI of the study area on June 23,1988,May 6,2007,and May 10,2000 was respectively obtained by using Band Math,the least square fitting was adopted to simulate the correlation between surface temperature and vegetation cover.Moreover,linear regression analysis of the correlation between vegetation cover and NDVI was carried out in Excel.The results showed that(a) most of the constructed area has a low NDVI value because there are large areas of hard surface such as buildings and roads,but less vegetation cover;(b) the quarters with better vegetation cover have higher NDVI values;the Tuojiang River has a negative NDVI value;rural areas have better vegetation cover and higher NDVI values.Brightness temperature and vegetation cover has distinct negative correlation,specifically,the higher the vegetation cover is,the lower the surface temperature is,and vice versa.
文摘Ibadan has experienced a rapid urbanization over the past few decades due to heavy influx of people from different parts of the country as a result of improved economy of the region. This development induced a great change in land use and land cover over the region which has become a major environmental concern recently. This study assessed Land Surface Temperature (LST) and its spatio-temporal relationship with land cover type over Ibadan. Land use/Land cover dynamics were assessed using index maps generated from Landsat Satellite data (TM, ETM+ and OLI) of Ibadan. The corrected thermal Infrared bands of the Landsat data were used to retrieve LST. The results revealed a notable increase in built-up areas from 5.64% of the total land cover area in 1984 to 14.05% in 2014. This change has caused increase in surface temperature of Ibadan from 3.56?C to 8.54?C between 1984 and 2014 respectively. The study recorded a continuous decrease in the vegetal part of Ibadan (from 43.28% in 1984 to 14.76 in 2014) which could be attributed to anthropogenic activities as the vegetated land area lost was been converted to other form of land use. The change was found to be positively correlated to the surface temperature intensity over the region with correlation coefficient, r value of 0.9251, 0.8256 and 0.7017 in 1984, 2000 and 2014 respectively. It is recommended that Policies should be considered for planting trees, new guidelines for urban landscape design and construction.
文摘Land cover change is a major challenge for many developing countries. Spatiotemporal information on this change is essential for monitoring global terrestrial ecosystem carbon, climate and biosphere exchange, and land use management. A combination of LST and the EVI indices in the global disturbance index (DI) has been proven to be useful for detecting and monitoring of changes in land covers at continental scales. However, this model has not been adequately applied or assessed in tropical regions. We aimed to demonstrate and evaluate the DI algorithm used to detect spatial change in land covers in Lao tropical forests. We used the land surface temperature and enhanced vegetation index of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer time-series products from 2006-2012. We used two dates Google EarthTM images in 2006 and 2012 as ground truth data for accuracy assessment of the model. This research demonstrated that the DI was capable of detecting vegetation changes during seven-year periods with high overall accuracy;however, it showed low accuracy in detecting vegetation decrease.
文摘Land use/land cover change (LUCC) mapping and analysis using multi-temporal normalize difference vegetation index (NDVI) data have been well documented. Recent empirical studies have documented that many new methods with high accuracy of retrieved land surface temperature ( Ts) have been developed. Thus, the combination of land surface temperature and NDVI has the greatest potential to improve the surface vegetation dynamic monitoring. In this study, the following objectives are pursued to: (1) introduce the practical method to produce the Ts, NDVI and Ts/NDVI based on remotely sensed data; (2) investigate the different retrieved result of vegetation cover information from NDVI, Ts and Ts/NDVI data sets, and analyze the intra-annual time trajectories of different vegetation cover categories in the NDVI- Ts space for farming-pastoral zone in North China, and (3) quantitative analysis the difference in using NDVI, Ts and Ts/NDVI data sets to express information based on the indices (information entropy and averaged information grads), and evaluate the relative role of Ts/NDVI data set in the discrimination of different vegetation cover categories through comparison to traditional NDVI data set.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41671418 and 41371326)the Science and Technology Facilities Council of UK-Newton Agritech Programme (Sentinels of Wheat)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China (2019TC117)
文摘Soil temperatures at different depths down the soil profile are important agro-meteorological indicators which are necessary for ecological modeling and precision agricultural activities. In this paper, using time series of soil temperature(ST) measured at different depths(0, 5, 10, 20, and 40 cm) at agro-meteorological stations in northern China as reference data, ST was estimated from land surface temperature(LST) and normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI) derived from AQUA/TERRA MODIS data, and solar declination(Ds) in univariate and multivariate linear regression models. Results showed that when daytime LST is used as predictor, the coefficient of determination(R^2) values decrease from the 0 cm layer to the 40 cm layer. Additionally, with the use of nighttime LST as predictor, the R^2 values were relatively higher at 5, 10 and 15 cm depths than those at 0, 20 and 40 cm depths. It is further observed that the multiple linear regression models for soil temperature estimation outperform the univariate linear regression models based on the root mean squared errors(RMSEs) and R^2. These results have demonstrated the potential of MODIS data in tandem with the Ds parameter for soil temperature estimation at the upper layers of the soil profile where plant roots grow in. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt at the synergistic use of LST, NDVI and Ds for soil temperature estimation at different depths of the upper layers of the soil profile, representing a significant contribution to soil remote sensing.
文摘Land surface temperature(LST) is the skin temperature of the earth surface. LST depends on the amount of sunlight received by any geographical area. Apart from sun light, LST is also affected by the land cover, which leads to change in land surface temperature. Impact of land cover change(LCC) on LST has been assessed using Landsat TM5, Landsat 8 TIRS/OLI and Digital Elevation Model(ASTER) for Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh, India. In the present study, Spiti valley was divided into three altitudinal zones to check the pattern of changing land cover along different altitudes and LST was calculated for all the four land cover categories extracted from remote sensing data for the years of 1990 and 2015. Matrix table was used as a technique to evaluate the land cover change between two different years. Matrix table shows that as a whole, about 2,151,647 ha(30%) area of Spiti valley experienced change in land cover in the last 25 years. The result also shows vegetation and water bodies increased by 107,560.2 ha(605.87%) and 45 ha(0.98%), respectively. Snow cover and barren land decreased by 19,016.5 ha(23.92%) and 88,589(14.14%), during the study period. A significant increase has been noticed in vegetation amongst all land cover types. Minimum, maximum and mean LST for three altitudinal zones have been calculated. The mean LST recorded was 11℃ in 1990 but it rose by 2℃ and reached to 13℃ in 2015. Changes in LST were obtained for each land cover categories. The mean temperature of different land cover types was calculated by averaging value of all pixels of a given land cover types. The mean LST of vegetation, barren land, snow cover and water body increased by 6℃, 9℃, 1℃, and 7℃, respectively. Further, relationships between LST, Normalized Difference Snow Index(NDSI), and Normalised Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI) were established using Linear Regression.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.41705070)the Major Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.41991282)the National Key Scientific and Technological Infrastructure project“Earth System Science Numerical Simulator Facility”(EarthLab).
文摘Terrestrial ecosystems are an important part of Earth systems,and they are undergoing remarkable changes in response to global warming.This study investigates the response of the terrestrial vegetation distribution and carbon fluxes to global warming by using the new dynamic global vegetation model in the second version of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS)Earth System Model(CAS-ESM2).We conducted two sets of simulations,a present-day simulation and a future simulation,which were forced by the present-day climate during 1981-2000 and the future climate during 2081-2100,respectively,as derived from RCP8.5 outputs in CMIP5.CO_(2)concentration is kept constant in all simulations to isolate CO_(2)-fertilization effects.The results show an overall increase in vegetation coverage in response to global warming,which is the net result of the greening in the mid-high latitudes and the browning in the tropics.The results also show an enhancement in carbon fluxes in response to global warming,including gross primary productivity,net primary productivity,and autotrophic respiration.We found that the changes in vegetation coverage were significantly correlated with changes in surface air temperature,reflecting the dominant role of temperature,while the changes in carbon fluxes were caused by the combined effects of leaf area index,temperature,and precipitation.This study applies the CAS-ESM2 to investigate the response of terrestrial ecosystems to climate warming.Even though the interpretation of the results is limited by isolating CO_(2)-fertilization effects,this application is still beneficial for adding to our understanding of vegetation processes and to further improve upon model parameterizations.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(42161049,41761019,41061052)the Special Project for Talent Development in the Western Region(201408655089).
文摘Vegetation growth status is an important indicator of ecological security.The Tarim River Basin is located in the inland arid region of Northwest China and has a highly fragile ecological environment.Assessing the vegetation net primary productivity(NPP)of the Tarim River Basin can provide insights into the vegetation growth variations in the region.Therefore,based on the Google Earth Engine(GEE)cloud platform,we studied the spatiotemporal variation of vegetation NPP in the Tarim River Basin(except for the eastern Gobi and Kumutag deserts)from 2001 to 2020 and analyzed the correlations between vegetation NPP and meteorological factors(air temperature and precipitation)using the Sen slope estimation method,coefficient of variation,and rescaled range analysis method.In terms of temporal characteristics,vegetation NPP in the Tarim River Basin showed an overall fluctuating upward trend from 2001 to 2020,with the smallest value of 118.99 g C/(m2•a)in 2001 and the largest value of 155.07 g C/(m2•a)in 2017.Regarding the spatial characteristics,vegetation NPP in the Tarim River Basin showed a downward trend from northwest to southeast along the outer edge of the study area.The annual average value of vegetation NPP was 133.35 g C/(m2•a),and the area with annual average vegetation NPP values greater than 100.00 g C/(m2•a)was 82,638.75 km2,accounting for 57.76%of the basin.The future trend of vegetation NPP was dominated by anti-continuity characteristic;the percentage of the area with anti-continuity characteristic was 63.57%.The area with a significant positive correlation between vegetation NPP and air temperature accounted for 53.74%of the regions that passed the significance test,while the area with a significant positive correlation between vegetation NPP and precipitation occupied 98.68%of the regions that passed the significance test.Hence,the effect of precipitation on vegetation NPP was greater than that of air temperature.The results of this study improve the understanding on the spatiotemporal variation of vegetation NPP in the Tarim River Basin and the impact of meteorological factors on vegetation NPP.
文摘Climatic factors impact vegetation. Our study was to examine and analyze the climate variability and relationship to vegetation in Garamba National Park of the Democratic Republic of the Congo over the past 30 years (1990 to 2020), then to relate the climatic variables. Mann Kendall’s non parametric test, ANOVA, and p-value tests are used to analyze existing trends and relationships between vegetation cover, climatic factors, land surface temperature (LST) and normalized difference in temperature Vegetation index (NDVI), Enhanced vegetation index (EVI) in Garamba national park which is of particular importance for the network of protected areas of the Democratic republic of Congo because its position at the northern limit of the savanna-forest mosaics gives it a unique biodiversity. The southern part of the park is dominated by grassy shrub savannas. The results showed that: 1) In Garamba, the monthly correlation coefficient of Kendall and Pearsan between temperature and precipitation are negative respectively 0.763 and <span style="white-space:nowrap;">−</span>0.876 (p-value < 0.00001). 2) Annually during the three decades in Garamba, the correlation between precipitation and NDVI is significant 0.416 (Kendall) and 0.496 (Pearsan);the same between precipitation and EVI 0.291 (Kendall) and 0.496 (Pearsan) while LST and precipitation are negatively correlated (p-value < 0.00001).
文摘This study employs Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) thermal infrared satellite data to compare land surface temperature of two cities in Ghana: Accra and Kumasi. These cities have human populations above 2 million and the corresponding anthropogenic impact on their environments significantly. Images were acquired with minimum cloud cover (<10%) from both dry and rainy seasons between December to August. Image preprocessing and rectification using ArcGIS 10.8 software w<span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">ere</span></span></span><span><span><span style="font-family:;" "=""><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> used. The shapefiles of Accra and Kumasi were used to extract from the full scenes to subset the study area. Thermal band data numbers were converted to Top of Atmospheric Spectral Radiance using radiance rescaling factors. To determine the density of green on a patch of land, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was calculated by using red and near-infrared bands </span><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">i.e</span></i></span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">.</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> Band 4 and Band 5. Land surface emissivity (LSE) was also calculated to determine the efficiency of transmitting thermal energy across the surface into the atmosphere. Results of the study show variation of temperatures between different locations in two urban areas. The study found Accra to have experienced higher and lower dry season and wet season temperatures, respectively. The temperature ranges corresponding to the dry and wet seasons were found to be 21.0985</span></span></span><span><span><span style="font-family:;" "=""><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;">o</span></span></span>C</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> to 46.1314</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;">o</span></span></span>C</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">, and, 18.3437</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;">o</span></span></span>C</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> to 30.9693</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;">o</span></span></span>C</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> respectively. Results of Kumasi also show a higher range of temperatures from 32.6986</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;">o</span></span></span>C</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> to 19.1077<span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;">o</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">C</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> during the dry season. In the wet season, temperatures ranged from 26.4142</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;">o</span></span></span>C</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> to </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">-</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">0</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">.898728</span></span></span><span><span><span style="font-family:;" "=""><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="color:#4F4F4F;font-family:Simsun;font-size:14px;white-space:normal;background-color:#FFFFFF;">o</span></span></span>C</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">. Among the reasons for the cities of Accra and Kumasi recorded higher than corresponding rural areas’ values can be attributed to the urban heat islands’ phenomenon.</span></span></span></span>
文摘This knowledge of land surface temperature and its spatial variations within a city environment is of prime importance to the study of urban climate and human-environment interactions. Few studies have examined the influence of land use and terrain on the surface temperature effects of semi-arid mountainous urban areas. This study investigates the urban environment characterization and its effects on surface temperature using remote sensing. The methodologies adapted for this study are geometric and radiometric corrections of satellite data, extraction of land use/land cover and digital elevation model, estimation of vegetation density using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and estimation of surface temperature and emissivity using temperature emissivity separation (TES) algorithm. Finally geospatial model and statistical techniques are used for assessing the overall impact of urban environmental characterization on urban climate of semi-arid region of Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Herein, results reveal that the spatial distribution of surface temperature was affected by land use/land cover (LULC) and topography. The high dense built-up and commercial/industrial areas display higher surface temperature in comparison with surrounding lands. There is gradual decrease of LULC classes’ surface temperature with the increase in altitude. The cooling effect towards the surrounding urban built-up area is found increasing at the hill located vegetated area, the downward slope and valley terrain inside the recreational park. Therefore the spatial variation in surface temperature also reflected the effects of topography on LULC classes. Suitable mountainous land use utilization would help to expand the cooling effect. In the future, the outcomes of this study could be used to build environmentally sustainable urban planning suitable to semi-arid regions and to create practices that consider the local weather environment in urban planning.
基金Natural Science Foundation Project of CQ CSTC(CSTC2011jj A00025)
文摘The satellite-based vegetation condition index(VCI) and temperature condition index(TCI) have been used extensively for drought detection and tracking, the assessment of weather impacts on vegetation and evaluation of the health and productivity of vegetation. In this study, in order to detect and monitor the growth condition of vegetation, we have collected data on vegetation indices and land surface temperature derived from MODIS(2001-2012) and defined a vegetation health index(VHI) based on VCI and TCI for assessing vegetation health condition in the Three Gorges Area, China(TGA). The results of the study show that temporal and spatial characteristics of vegetation health condition can be detected, tracked and mapped by the VHI index. In most parts of the TGA, the vegetation health condition showed an overall increasing trend during the study period, especially in Wulong, Fengdu, Shizhu and other regions located in the midstream sections of the Three Gorges Reservoir. In addition, the four studied vegetation types all showed clear increasing trends during the study period. The increasing trend in the vegetation health condition shows a strong positive correlation with topographical slope and altitude(below 500 m). Over the seasons, this trend is strongest in autumn, followed by spring. However, the correlations between vegetation health condition and climatic factors are more frequently significant in summer and winter than in autumn and spring. The vegetation health condition has been low in 2006 and 2011. This finding is consistent with the extreme weather conditions in those two years. However, only in the summer is vegetation health condition significantly correlated with three climatic factors in most of the study area. This result implies that vegetation growth may show a lagged response to climatic factors and may also be affected by human activities, including agricultural activities, industrial activities and other economic activities.