Reflectance modelling and the derivation of vegetation indices for an Australian semi-arid shrubland

Abstract Indices of vegetation ‘cover’ and ‘greenness’ are derived for LANDSAT MSS digital data for an Australian range land type, and their usefulness discussed with reference to the information content of the data and the effect of shadowing as an interaction between landscape components. The indices are related to a class of statistical models called mixture models which provides a formal framework for analysing reflectance data from multicomponent surfaces.