Early Detection and Monitoring Droughts From NOAA Environmental Satellites

With nearly 30 years of the accumulated AVHRR data which were ­collected from NOAA operational polar-orbiting environmental satellites, the area of their applications expanded in the direction of monitoring vegetation condition, modeling agricultural production, analysis of climate and global change, resource management, and early and more efficient monitoring of droughts and their impacts on economy and society. This becomes possible due to the development of Vegetation Health (VH) indices. This paper discusses utility of the AVHRR-based VH focusing on monitoring vegetation with the emphasis on early drought warning and drought features.