Mapping and Evaluation of NDVI Trends from Synthetic Time Series Obtained by Blending Landsat and MODIS Data around a Coalfield on the Loess Plateau

Remote Sensing

Feng Tian¹  Yunjia Wang⁴  Rasmus Fensholt²  Kun Wang³  Li Zhang³ 

[1] Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, No.1 Daxue Road, Xuzhou 221116, China; E-Mail:;Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350 Copenhagen, Denmark; E-Mail:;Key Laboratory of Digital Earth Science, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.9 Dengzhuang South Road, Beijing 100094, China; E-Mails:;School of Environment Science and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, No.1 Daxue Road, Xuzhou 221116, China; E-Mail:

关键词: trend analysis;    coal mining;    synthetic NDVI;    Landsat;    MODIS;    STARFM;   

DOI  :  10.3390/rs5094255

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The increasingly intensive and extensive coal mining activities on the Loess Plateau pose a threat to the fragile local ecosystems. Quantifying the effects of coal mining activities on environmental conditions is of great interest for restoring and managing the local ecosystems and resources. This paper generates dense NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) time series between 2000 and 2011 at a spatial resolution of 30 m by blending Landsat and MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) data using the Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model (STARFM) and further evaluates its capability for mapping vegetation trends around a typical coalfield on the Loss Plateau. Synthetic NDVI images were generated using (1) STARFM-generated NIR (near infrared) and red band reflectance data (scheme 1) and (2) Landsat and MODIS NDVI images directly as inputs for STARFM (scheme 2). By comparing the synthetic NDVI images with the corresponding Landsat NDVI, we found that scheme 2 consistently generated better results (0.70 < R² < 0.76) than scheme 1 (0.56 < R² < 0.70) in this study area. Trend analysis was then performed with the synthetic dense NDVI time series and the annual maximum NDVI (NDVI_max) time series. The accuracy of these trends was evaluated by comparing to those from the corresponding MODIS time series, and it was concluded that both the trends from synthetic/MODIS NDVI dense time series and synthetic/MODIS NDVI_max time series (2000–2011) were highly consistent. Compared to trends from MODIS time series, trends from synthetic time series are better able to capture fine scale vegetation changes. STARFM-generated synthetic NDVI time series could be used to quantify the effects of mining activities on vegetation, but the test areas should be selected with caution, as the trends derived from synthetic and MODIS time series may be significantly different in some areas.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland