Mapping Changes in Plant Phenology across Eurasia, Africa, North and South America from Time Series Image Data

Abstract

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There is considerable evidence of changes in vegetation phenology in response to climate change, where some of this evidence comes from field studies and some comes from the analysis of satellite image data. This paper reports on the analysis of a suite of six indices that depict the way that the phenological profile for vegetation as recorded in image time series can change over time and shows that these indices can be interpreted so as to provide information on how the vegetation is responding across more extensive areas. The analysis also shows that changes in vegetation phenology often include strong regional influences. Some of these regional influences defy easy analysis using just the indices alone, requiring more detailed field analysis to fully understand the changes that are taking place.