Evaluation of MODIS derived perpendicular drought index for estimation of surface dryness over northwestern China

In this paper, drought status of northwestern China is evaluated using the Terra–Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data with a newly developed method called perpendicular drought index (PDI), which is defined as a line segment that is parallel with the soil line and perpendicular to the normal line of soil line intersecting the coordinate origin in the two‐dimensional scatter plot of red against near infrared (NIR) wavelength reflectance. To validate the PDI in macroscale applications, quantitative evaluation of drought conditions in Ningxia, Northwestern China is carried out by comparing the PDI with one of the well‐known drought indexes, namely, temperature‐vegetation index (TVX). Linear regression between ground‐measured soil moisture data and the PDI and the TVX was made. Results show that satellite based PDI and TVX has significant correlation with 0–20 cm averaged soil moisture obtained over the meteorological observing stations across the whole study area. The highest correlation of R 2 = 0.48 for the PDI and R 2 = 0.40 for the TVX is obtained when compared with average soil moisture from 0 to 20 cm soil depth. According to the drought critical values defined by soil hydrologic parameters including soil moisture, wilting coefficient and field moisture capacity, the PDI based drought guidelines are established, and then the drought status in the study area is evaluated using the PDI. It is evident from the results showing the spatial distribution of drought in northwestern China that the PDI is highly accordant with field drought status.

[1]  Allen S. Hope,et al.  Estimation of wheat canopy resistance using combined remotely sensed spectral reflectance and thermal observations , 1988 .

[2]  Eric F. Lambin,et al.  Combining vegetation indices and surface temperature for land-cover mapping at broad spatial scales , 1995 .

[3]  Eric F. Lambin,et al.  The surface temperature-vegetation index space for land cover and land-cover change analysis , 1996 .

[4]  Zhao-Liang Li,et al.  A physics-based algorithm for retrieving land-surface emissivity and temperature from EOS/MODIS data , 1997, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[5]  Ray D. Jackson,et al.  Soil Moisture Inferences from Thermal-Infrared Measurements of Vegetation Temperatures , 1982, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[6]  Hua Yang,et al.  Study on NDVI-Ts space by combining LAI and evapotranspiration , 2006 .

[7]  Z. Wan,et al.  Using MODIS Land Surface Temperature and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index products for monitoring drought in the southern Great Plains, USA , 2004 .

[8]  Qiming Qin,et al.  Development of broadband albedo based ecological safety monitoring index , 2004, IGARSS 2004. 2004 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium.

[9]  Wayne C. Palmer,et al.  Keeping Track of Crop Moisture Conditions, Nationwide: The New Crop Moisture Index , 1968 .

[10]  Peter R. Shewry,et al.  Effects of Restricted Water Availability and Increased Temperature on the Grain Filling, Drying and Quality of Winter Wheat , 2003 .

[11]  J. Gong,et al.  Vegetation temperature condition index and its application for drought monitoring , 2001, IGARSS 2001. Scanning the Present and Resolving the Future. Proceedings. IEEE 2001 International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (Cat. No.01CH37217).

[12]  M. Friedl,et al.  Sources of variation in radiometric surface temperature over a tallgrass prairie , 1994 .

[13]  Tim R. McVicar,et al.  Rapidly assessing the 1997 drought in Papua New Guinea using composite AVHRR imagery , 2001 .

[14]  Tim R. McVicar,et al.  Soil Moisture and Drought Monitoring Using Remote Sensing I: Theoretical Background and Methods , 1998 .

[15]  S. Idso,et al.  Measuring yield-reducing plant water potential depressions in wheat by infrared thermometry , 1981, Irrigation Science.

[16]  Ramakrishna R. Nemani,et al.  Testing a theoretical climate-soil-leaf area hydrologic equilibrium of forests using satellite data and ecosystem simulation , 1989 .

[17]  D. Z. Haman,et al.  Determination of Crop Water Stress Index for Irrigation Timing and Yield Estimation of Corn , 2000 .

[18]  S. Goetz.  Multi-sensor analysis of NDVI, surface temperature and biophysical variables at a mixed grassland site , 1997 .

[19]  F. Kogan.  Application of vegetation index and brightness temperature for drought detection , 1995 .

[20]  W. Liu,et al.  Monitoring regional drought using the Vegetation Condition Index , 1996 .

[21]  J. C. Price.  Using spatial context in satellite data to infer regional scale evapotranspiration , 1990 .

[22]  F. Kogan.  Remote sensing of weather impacts on vegetation in non-homogeneous areas , 1990 .

[23]  Liu Shaomin,et al.  Study on NDVI- T s space by combining LAI and evapotranspiration , 2006 .

[24]  D. Jupp,et al.  The current and potential operational uses of remote sensing to aid decisions on drought exceptional circumstances in Australia: a review , 1998 .

[25]  I. Sandholt,et al.  A simple interpretation of the surface temperature/vegetation index space for assessment of surface moisture status , 2002 .

[26]  T. Carlson,et al.  A method to make use of thermal infrared temperature and NDVI measurements to infer surface soil water content and fractional vegetation cover , 1994 .

[27]  Eric F. Lambin,et al.  Mapping forest-cover disturbances in Papua New Guinea with AVHRR data , 1996 .

[28]  T. McKee,et al.  THE RELATIONSHIP OF DROUGHT FREQUENCY AND DURATION TO TIME SCALES , 1993 .

[29]  T. McKee,et al.  Drought monitoring with multiple time scales , 1995 .

[30]  S. Running,et al.  Developing Satellite-derived Estimates of Surface Moisture Status , 1993 .

[31]  Zhiming Zhan,et al.  Designing of the perpendicular drought index , 2007 .

[32]  S. Goward,et al.  Estimation of air temperature from remotely sensed surface observations , 1997 .

[33]  Z. Zhiming,et al.  NIR-red spectral space based new method for soil moisture monitoring , 2007 .

[34]  B. Shafer,et al.  Development of a surface water supply index (SWSI) to assess the severity of drought conditions in snowpack runoff areas , 1982 .