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Main Global NDVI Datasets, Databases, and Software

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Use of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to Assess Land Degradation at Multiple Scales

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Environmental Science ((BRIEFSENVIRONMENTAL))

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Abstract

Coarse spatial resolution datasets are invaluable at the global scale, but they lack the thematic and spatial detail required for habitat assessments at the country level and for finer-resolution assessments such as vegetation species distribution or high-quality forest-change monitoring. Mapping, monitoring, and assessments at the national and subnational level are performed using moderate-resolution sensors such as Landsat, ASTER, SPOT HRV, and IRS with spatial resolutions from 15 to 60 m. Newer, high-resolution optical sensors (5 m or better) provide enough spatial and spectral detail to discriminate between individual trees and, in some cases, species, but high-resolution imagery is prohibitively costly (see Annex 7) for many national governments and research institutions (Strittholt and Steininger 2007).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Initiatives such as those by Michael de Smith and Paul Longley of University College London, and Mike Goodchild of University of California, Santa Barbara, provide information on the main activity for which each software product is designed, their license status (commercial or free), as well as links to their access and further information: http://www.spatialanalysisonline.com/software.html. The Wikipedia page that compares geographic information systems and remote sensing software in terms of license status, operating system, and other operational specifications can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_geographic_information_systems_software.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies - LUCSUS, Lund, Sweden

    Genesis T. Yengoh, Lennart Olsson & Anna E. Tengberg

  2. Chestnut Tree Farm, Forncett End, Northfolk, UK

    David Dent

  3. Department of Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MA, USA

    Compton J. Tucker III

Authors
  1. Genesis T. Yengoh
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  2. David Dent
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  3. Lennart Olsson
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  4. Anna E. Tengberg
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  5. Compton J. Tucker III
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Yengoh, G.T., Dent, D., Olsson, L., Tengberg, A.E., Tucker, C.J. (2015). Main Global NDVI Datasets, Databases, and Software. In: Use of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to Assess Land Degradation at Multiple Scales. SpringerBriefs in Environmental Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24112-8_8

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