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ARS Home » Plains Area » Las Cruces, New Mexico » Range Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #77978
Title: CONDITION OF NEW MEXICO RANGELANDS DERIVED FROM MULTI-YEAR AVHRR IMAGERY AND ASSOCIATED SPATIAL VARIABLES

Author
item LANCASTER, JUDITH - DESERT RESEARCH INSTITUTE
item WADE, TIMOTHY - DESERT RESEARCH INSTITUTE
item MINOR, TIMOTHY - DESERT RESEARCH INSTITUTE
item Whitford, Walter

Submitted to: Thematic Conferencea and Workshops on Applied Geologic Remote Sensing
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/5/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The Desert Research Institute in cooperation with the Environmental Protection Agency Characterization Research Division, Las Vegas, has been evaluating indicators of rangeland health derived from remote sensing technology. The primary objective of this project was to determine the ability of multi-date remote sensing imagery to detect variation in vegetation productivity, as a potential indicator of ecosystem condition i the western U.S. The conterminous U.S. AVHRR biweekly composites were acquired from EROS Data Center for the six years 1989 - 1994. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data for New Mexico were imported into a Geographical Information System. Using a digital vegetation map for the state, woodland and montane vegetation types were masked, leaving two grassland and four shrub-dominated vegetation classes. Average annual NDVI was calculated for each year, and a series of regression analysis were performed using 1989 as the reference year (independent variable), and eac subsequent year as dependent variables. Outliers were identified as pixels two standard deviations from the calculated regression line, indicating 14 areas of change, three with lower productivity versus 1989, and 11 with higher productivity. Mining, military activity and irrigated agriculture were among the causes of change.

Technical Abstract: The Desert Research Institute in cooperation with the Environmental Protection Agency Characterization Research Division, Las Vegas, has been evaluating indicators of rangeland health derived from remote sensing technology. The primary objective of this project was to determine the ability of multi-date remote sensing imagery to detect variation in vegetation productivity, as a potential indicator of ecosystem condition i the western U.S. The conterminous U.S. AVHRR biweekly composites were acquired from EROS Data Center for the six years 1989 - 1994. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data for New Mexico were imported into a Geographical Information System. Using a digital vegetation map for the state, woodland and montane vegetation types were masked, leaving two grassland and four shrub-dominated vegetation classes. Average annual NDVI was calculated for each year, and a series of regression analysis were performed using 1989 as the reference year (independent variable), and eac subsequent year as dependent variables. Outliers were identified as pixels two standard deviations from the calculated regression line, indicating 14 areas of change, three with lower productivity versus 1989, and 11 with higher productivity. Mining, military activity and irrigated agriculture were among the causes of change.