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Regional desertification: A global synthesis

Helldén, Ulf LU and Töttrup, Christian LU (2008) In Global and Planetary Change 64(3-4). p.169-176
Abstract
The paper presents results on the use of NOAA AVHRR data for desertification monitoring on a regional-global level. It is based on processing of the GIMMS 8 km global NDVI data set. Time series of annually integrated and standardized annual NDVI anomalies were generated and compared with a corresponding rainfall data set (1981-2003). The regions studied include the Mediterranean basin, the Sahel from the Atlantic to the Red Sea, major parts of the drylands of Southern Africa, China-Mongolia and the drylands of South America, i.e. important parts of the desertification prone drylands of the world. It is concluded that the suggested methodology is a robust and reliable way to assess and monitor vegetation trends and related desertification... (More)
The paper presents results on the use of NOAA AVHRR data for desertification monitoring on a regional-global level. It is based on processing of the GIMMS 8 km global NDVI data set. Time series of annually integrated and standardized annual NDVI anomalies were generated and compared with a corresponding rainfall data set (1981-2003). The regions studied include the Mediterranean basin, the Sahel from the Atlantic to the Red Sea, major parts of the drylands of Southern Africa, China-Mongolia and the drylands of South America, i.e. important parts of the desertification prone drylands of the world. It is concluded that the suggested methodology is a robust and reliable way to assess and monitor vegetation trends and related desertification on a regional-global scale. A strong general relationship between NDVI and rainfall over time is demonstrated for considerable parts of the drylands. The results of performed trend analysis cannot be used to verify any systematic generic land degradation/desertification trend at the regional-global level. On the contrary. a "greening-up" seems to be evident over large regions. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
global drylands, remote sensing, NDVI, desertification, land degradation
in
Global and Planetary Change
volume
64
issue
3-4
pages
169 - 176
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000262428500008
  • scopus:57049135135
ISSN
1872-6364
DOI
10.1016/j.gloplacha.2008.10.006
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7f3cdfc3-6aa0-45b7-bee8-c535bc952d99 (old id 1376084)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:49:35
date last changed
2022-04-13 01:57:16
@article{7f3cdfc3-6aa0-45b7-bee8-c535bc952d99,
  abstract     = {{The paper presents results on the use of NOAA AVHRR data for desertification monitoring on a regional-global level. It is based on processing of the GIMMS 8 km global NDVI data set. Time series of annually integrated and standardized annual NDVI anomalies were generated and compared with a corresponding rainfall data set (1981-2003). The regions studied include the Mediterranean basin, the Sahel from the Atlantic to the Red Sea, major parts of the drylands of Southern Africa, China-Mongolia and the drylands of South America, i.e. important parts of the desertification prone drylands of the world. It is concluded that the suggested methodology is a robust and reliable way to assess and monitor vegetation trends and related desertification on a regional-global scale. A strong general relationship between NDVI and rainfall over time is demonstrated for considerable parts of the drylands. The results of performed trend analysis cannot be used to verify any systematic generic land degradation/desertification trend at the regional-global level. On the contrary. a "greening-up" seems to be evident over large regions. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.}},
  author       = {{Helldén, Ulf and Töttrup, Christian}},
  issn         = {{1872-6364}},
  keywords     = {{global drylands; remote sensing; NDVI; desertification; land degradation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3-4}},
  pages        = {{169--176}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Global and Planetary Change}},
  title        = {{Regional desertification: A global synthesis}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2008.10.006}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.gloplacha.2008.10.006}},
  volume       = {{64}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}