Short-term drought assessment in Pakistan and adjoining areas by remote sensing MODIS-NDVI data: A potential consequence of climate change

Currently normalized difference vegetation index (ndvi) is extensively used for appraise vegetation composition,structure,stratification and distribution. spatial and temporal rainfall distribution and its effect on ndvi can be helpful for drought examining. this study has been done to improved comprehend this association. the response of vegetation growth to current climate change in pakistan and adjoining south asian countries (22–42°n,60–80°e) were investigated by analyzing the time series of the ndvi maps. we also obtained and analyzed time series of different variable i.e. rainfall,soil moisture,evapotranspiration and soil temperature model data,through nasa geospatial interactive online visualization and analysis infrastructure (giovanni) system,during jan- dec,2014 for every three month interval. the noaa climate prediction center from international research institute (iri) for climate and society’s platform was also used for rainfall anomaly data. we found that ndvi values varies and depend on land cover types and its spatial location and dependant on rainfall. we found a strong positive relationship among ndvi,rainfall and soil moisture. seasonal variations of rainfall are having also affects on evapotranspiration,soil temperature,and soil moisture conditions. © 2016,pakistan botanical society. all rights reserved.