Remote Sens. 2010, 2(6), 1530-1548; doi:10.3390/rs2061530
Article

Investigation on the Patterns of Global Vegetation Change Using a Satellite-Sensed Vegetation Index

Ainong Li 1,* email, Wei Deng 1 email, Shunlin Liang 2 email and Chengquan Huang 2 email
1 Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China 2 Department of Geography, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 2 April 2010; in revised form: 18 May 2010 / Accepted: 21 May 2010 / Published: 3 June 2010
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecological Status and Change by Remote Sensing)
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Abstract: The pattern of vegetation change in response to global change still remains a controversial issue. A Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) dataset compiled by the Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) was used for analysis. For the period 1982–2006, GIMMS-NDVI analysis indicated that monthly NDVI changes show homogenous trends in middle and high latitude areas in the northern hemisphere and within, or near, the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn; with obvious spatio-temporal heterogeneity on a global scale over the past two decades. The former areas featured increasing vegetation activity during growth seasons, and the latter areas experienced an even greater amplitude in places where precipitation is adequate. The discussion suggests that one should be cautious of using the NDVI time-series to analyze local vegetation dynamics because of its coarse resolution and uncertainties.
Keywords: global vegetation change; spatio-temporal pattern; NDVI; EOF; remote sensing

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Li, A.; Deng, W.; Liang, S.; Huang, C. Investigation on the Patterns of Global Vegetation Change Using a Satellite-Sensed Vegetation Index. Remote Sens. 2010, 2, 1530-1548.

AMA Style

Li A, Deng W, Liang S, Huang C. Investigation on the Patterns of Global Vegetation Change Using a Satellite-Sensed Vegetation Index. Remote Sensing. 2010; 2(6):1530-1548.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Li, Ainong; Deng, Wei; Liang, Shunlin; Huang, Chengquan. 2010. "Investigation on the Patterns of Global Vegetation Change Using a Satellite-Sensed Vegetation Index." Remote Sens. 2, no. 6: 1530-1548.

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