Theoretical and Natural Science
- The Open Access Proceedings Series for Conferences
Theoretical and Natural Science
Vol. 7, 09 October 2023
Open
Access | Article
Using remote sensing approach to analyze vegetation response to drought and landscape changes in arid regions
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Arid regions, characterized by low annual precipitation, unique vegetation, and distinctive hydrological cycles, play a significant role in maintaining ecological balance. However, these regions, with their hostile and remote environments, present unique challenges for field research. This study utilizes remote sensing technology, particularly the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), to evaluate the ecosystem's response to drought and understand the relationship between vegetation variability and other landscape features including elevation, soil type, and changes in land use or land cover. Six sites within the city, each of 100 square kilometers and representing diverse landscapes, were selected for the study. Key datasets describing land features were collected from official and authentic websites. A series of ArcGIS-based data processing methods were applied to discern patterns in the relationship between landscape features and vegetation variability, with a particular focus on periods of wet and dry years. The wet and dry years are identified as 2005 and 2009 respectively, based on average rainfall data. Notably, NDVI values in the wet year are consistently higher than in the dry year, with the greatest differences observed in undeveloped or shrubland areas (sites 3, 5, and 6). In terms of land cover, urban development increases in sites 1, 2, and 4 between 2004 and 2008, while shrubland decreases in sites 3, 5, and 6. This development corresponds to a contraction of vegetation cover. The study areas are primarily characterized by loamy soils, with variations in clay and sand composition. These findings underscore the impacts of rainfall and urban development on vegetation health in arid regions.
Keywords
arid region, remote sensing, NDVI, vegetation variation
References
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Data Availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.
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- Volume Title
- Proceedings of the 2023 International Conference on Environmental Geoscience and Earth Ecology
- ISBN (Print)
- 978-1-83558-015-8
- ISBN (Online)
- 978-1-83558-016-5
- Published Date
- 09 October 2023
- Series
- Theoretical and Natural Science
- ISSN (Print)
- 2753-8818
- ISSN (Online)
- 2753-8826
- DOI
- 10.54254/2753-8818/7/20230119
- Copyright
- 09 October 2023
- Open Access
- This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited