Emad Zakeri; Hamidreza karimzadeh; Seyed Alireza Mousavi
Abstract
Cover-management factor (C) is one of the most important influential factor on soil erosion using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model. C-factor is challenging to determine based on the proposed procedures due to lack of accurate information. Vegetation cover map can be used to estimate ...
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Cover-management factor (C) is one of the most important influential factor on soil erosion using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model. C-factor is challenging to determine based on the proposed procedures due to lack of accurate information. Vegetation cover map can be used to estimate C-factor, but preparing a suitable mapping of vegetation cover is challenging in many situations. Therefore, in this study vegetation cover map was prepared and compared using the k Nearest Neighbor (k-NN) algorithm, linear regression (LR) and linear stepwise regression (LSR) in the study area. In regression methods, 17 vegetation and environmental indices were prepared and their relationships were investigated. The results of comparing the three methods showed that the k-NN method has better results than other regression methods due to its highest overall accuracy (83.3%) and kappa coefficient (75.9%) therefore, it was used to produce C-factor map. Results showed that the k-NN was very promising for mapping vegetation canopy cover in the arid and semi-arid areas. The results showed that among vegetation indices NDVI had the highest correlation (0.82) with percentage vegetation cover. Also, in the k-NN method, the Euclidean distance metrics in k = 9 has better results than the other two Fuzzy and Mahalanobis distances and can be used to estimation of vegetation cover map.
Fatemeh bahreini; Fatemeh Panahi; Mohammad Jafari; Arash Malekian
Abstract
The complexity of drought phenomenon hinders our full understanding of its impact. Field sampling, Geographic Information Systems, SPI and NDVI, EVI and SAVI indices derived from 16-day interval MODIS images during 2000-2015 were used to better understand the effects of drought on vegetation In recent ...
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The complexity of drought phenomenon hinders our full understanding of its impact. Field sampling, Geographic Information Systems, SPI and NDVI, EVI and SAVI indices derived from 16-day interval MODIS images during 2000-2015 were used to better understand the effects of drought on vegetation In recent study, ground true map was prepared by sampling and field surveys and vegetation cover data was obtained from 32 sampling units in 320 plots over the entire study area. Then, the correlation between field sampling data and vegetation indices was estimated and vegetation cover models were produced for different indices. In this study, precipitation data of 14 stations within and around the study area were used and SPI was calculated at the same time scales with the vegetation indices to study the effect of drought on vegetation. The results showed that NDVI has had the highest correlation coefficient (R2=0.56) amongst the indices so it was selected for vegetation cover percentage mapping. Investigating NDVI rates and drought index in different temporal periods, 9-month SPI was found to have the best correlation with NDVI. On the basis of SPI analysis, it was found that the study area had the most severe drought in 2012 and the best wet condition in 2004. The similar trend was observed in NDVI. The comparison of classified images between 2004 and 2012 (with 42 % changes in poor vegetation) indicates the effect of drought on vegetation in the study area.
