Chapter 5: Applications

Title: An assessment of the relationship of the vegetation and precipitation patterns in support of the estimation of drought episodes in Greece

Author(s): Katerina Katsiabani, Constantinos Cartalis, Nektaria Adaktilou, Anastasios Mavrakis, Georgios Theocharatos

Address: Remote Sensing and Image Processing Research Unit, Department of Applied Physics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis Build. PHYS-5, Athens 15784, Greece | Remote Sensing and Image Processing Research Unit, Department of Applied Physics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis Build. PHYS-5, Athens 15784, Greece | Remote Sensing and Image Processing Research Unit, Department of Applied Physics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis Build. PHYS-5, Athens 15784, Greece | Laboratory of Climatology, Department of Applied Physics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis Build. PHYS-5, Athens 15784, Greece | Laboratory of Climatology, Department of Applied Physics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis Build. PHYS-5, Athens 15784, Greece

Reference: Atlantic Europe Conference on Remote Imaging and Spectroscopy pp. 123 - 130

Abstract/Summary: The purpose of this study is to define with the use of satellite and in-situ data the relationship of the vegetation and precipitation patterns in order to quantify the characteristics of drought episodes (severity, duration, spatial extension) in Greece*. For this purpose, two indices were used; the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), estimated from the NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellite data and the meteorological Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). NDVI reflects the vegetation vigor and enables the study of the green biomass, whereas SPI normalizes an anomaly in the temporal and spatial distribution of precipitation, thus enabling the comparison of drought severity among areas reflecting different hydrological regimes. From the NDVI and SPI regression analysis, several conclusions were deduced, providing different relationships depending on the time scale of SPI. *The paper reflects results obtained in the course of implementation of the research project "Estimating drought in Greece with the combined use of satellite and in-situ data". The project is co-funded by the European Social Fund and National Resources – (EPEAEK II) PYTHAGORAS II.

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