DEVELOPING SIMPLE, OPERATIONAL, CONSISTENT NDVI-VEGETATION MODELS BY APPLYING ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATIC INFORMATION - PART I - ASSESSMENT OF NET PRIMARY PRODUCTION
Ms. Rasmussen, DEVELOPING SIMPLE, OPERATIONAL, CONSISTENT NDVI-VEGETATION MODELS BY APPLYING ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATIC INFORMATION - PART I - ASSESSMENT OF NET PRIMARY PRODUCTION, International journal of remote sensing, 19(1), 1998, pp. 97-117
Multiple linear regression techniques have been used to assess rangela
nd Net Primary Production (NPP) in Senegal. The biophysical principles
of assessing NPP as a function of the Absorbed Photosynthetic Active
Radiation (APAR) accumulated during the growing season, multiplied by
the efficient coefficient (epsilon), have been used for the work. Accu
mulated APAR can be substituted with the seasonal integration of NDVI
multiplied by the Photosynthetic Active Radiation (PAR). However, a li
near regression showed that the NDVI alone was a better and more consi
stent estimator of rangeland NPP compared with the use of NDVI combine
d with the PAR data. A first characterization of environmental and cli
matic variability was attempted. Soil and vegetation information was u
sed and GIS interpolation tools were exploited to create spatial surfa
ces of environmental and climatic variables from point observations. A
multiple linear regression with the independent variables: integrated
NDVI, percentage tree cover and mean surface temperature, improved si
gnificantly the level of explained NPP (from 71 to 82 per cent). This
model was valid for two years of data.