Major trends in the land surface phenology (LSP) of Africa, controlling for land cover change

Adole, Tracy and Dash, Jadunandan and Atkinson, Peter Michael (2018) Major trends in the land surface phenology (LSP) of Africa, controlling for land cover change. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 39 (22). pp. 8060-8075. ISSN 0143-1161

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Abstract

Monitoring land surface phenology (LSP) trends is important in understanding how both climatic and non-climatic factors influence vegetation growth and dynamics. Controlling for land-cover changes in these analyses has been undertaken only rarely, especially in poorly studied regions like Africa. Using regression models and controlling for land-cover changes, this study estimated LSP trends for Africa from the enhanced vegetation index (EVI) derived from 500 m surface reflectance Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MOD09A1), for the period from 2001 to 2015. Overall end of season showed slightly more pixels with significant trends (12.9% of pixels) than start of season (11.56% of pixels) and length of season (LOS) (5.72% of pixels), leading generally to more ‘longer season’ LOS trends. Importantly, LSP trends that were not affected by land-cover changes were distinguished from those that were influenced by land-cover changes such as to map LSP changes that have occurred within stable land-cover classes and which might, therefore, be reasonably associated with climate changes through time. As expected, greater slope magnitudes were observed more frequently for pixels with land-cover changes compared to those without, indicating the importance of controlling for land cover. Consequently, we suggest that future analyses of LSP trends should control for land-cover changes such as to isolate LSP trends that are solely climate-driven and/or those influenced by other anthropogenic activities or a combination of both.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
International Journal of Remote Sensing
Additional Information:
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Remote Sensing on 03/07/2018 available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/01431161.2018.1479797
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1900
Subjects:
?? earth and planetary sciences(all) ??
ID Code:
125979
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
13 Aug 2018 08:50
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
20 Mar 2024 00:40