HR: 0800h
AN: B21A-0036    [Abstracts]
TI: Application of MODIS Normalized Differential Vegetation Index for Local Land Use Indicators of Impervious Surface Areas
AU: Zell, E
EM: zelle@battelle.org
AF: Battelle Memorial Institute, Suite 800 2101 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22201, United States
AU: * Weber, S
EM: webers@battelle.org
AF: Battelle Memorial Institute, 505 King Avenue, Columbus, OH 43201, United States
AU: Zewatsky, J
EM: zewatskyj@battelle.org
AF: Battelle Memorial Institute, 505 King Avenue, Columbus, OH 43201, United States
AU: Engel-Cox, J
EM: engelcoxj@battelle.org
AF: Battelle Memorial Institute, Suite 800 2101 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22201, United States
AB: Data derived from satellite measurements offer tremendous potential to contribute to environmental indicators broadly, and land cover/use indicators specifically, given satellite data's consistent, repetitive nature with broad spatial and temporal coverage. This study focuses on the translation of satellite data into meaningful measures that fit within the frame of environmental indicators used by policymakers, resources managers, and the general public. The study area encompasses the Greater Cincinnati Area (6,898 km²), a mid-sized city seeking to address sustainability in the context of urban change and growth. At the center of the study area is downtown Cincinnati in Hamilton County, with suburban areas extending into parts of the seven surrounding counties. Hamilton County staff are particularly interested in tracking impervious surface areas (ISAs) and forest cover as both have been shown to impact nearby water quality. The purpose of this study is to provide Hamilton County and other planning organizations with near real-time information on ISAs and forest cover through a simple, inexpensive methodology that leverages publicly available satellite data products. We obtained 250m resolution Normalized Differential Vegetation Indices (NDVI) data files derived from NASA MODIS (MOD13Q1) for 16-day periods in June/July of 2001-2006. NDVI is calculated based on transformations of the red (620-670 nm), near- infrared (841-876 nm), and blue (459-479 nm) bands designed to enhance the vegetation signal and allow for comparison in terrestrial photosynthetic activity. We examined multiple thresholds of NDVI to act as a surrogate for ISAs (low NDVI) and forest cover (high NDVI). We also calculated changes in NDVI throughout the study period and correlated large decreases in NDVI to known large developments. While this method has potential, further study is needed to ground truth the results, a process that is currently underway. In addition, calculation of NDVI with higher-resolution LANDSAT or ASTER data may improve the results.
DE: 0430 Computational methods and data processing
DE: 0480 Remote sensing
DE: 1632 Land cover change
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting