Register      Login
The Rangeland Journal The Rangeland Journal Society
Journal of the Australian Rangeland Society
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > RJ > RJ06033
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 29(1)

Evaluation of vegetation indices for assessing vegetation cover in southern arid lands in South Australia

R. Jafari A B , M. M. Lewis A and B. Ostendorf A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5064, Australia.

B Corresponding author. Email: reza.jafari@student.adelaide.edu.au

The Rangeland Journal 29(1) 39-49 https://doi.org/10.1071/RJ06033
Submitted: 24 August 2006  Accepted: 19 February 2007   Published: 14 June 2007

Abstract

Vegetation indices are widely used for assessing and monitoring ecological variables such as vegetation cover, above-ground biomass and leaf area index. This study reviewed and evaluated different groups of vegetation indices for estimating vegetation cover in southern rangelands in South Australia. Slope-based, distance-based, orthogonal transformation and plant-water sensitive vegetation indices were calculated from Landsat thematic mapper (TM) image data and compared with vegetation cover estimates at monitoring points made during Pastoral Lease assessments. Relationships between various vegetation indices and vegetation cover were compared using simple linear regression at two different scales: within two contrasting land systems and across broader regional landscapes. Of the vegetation indices evaluated, stress related vegetation indices using red, near-infrared and mid-infrared TM bands consistently showed significant relationships with vegetation cover at both land system and landscape scales. Estimation of vegetation cover was more accurate within land systems than across broader regions. Total perennial and ephemeral plant cover was best predicted within land systems, while combined vegetation, plant litter and soil cryptogam crust cover was best predicted at landscape scale. These results provide a strong foundation for use of vegetation indices as an adjunct to field methods for assessing vegetation cover in southern Australia.

Additional keywords: arid environment, Landsat TM, rangelands.


Acknowledgements

We thank the South Australian Pastoral Board, Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation, in particular Amanda Brook, Paul Gould and Ben Della Torre for providing field cover data and GIS layers for our analyses. We also thank James Cameron, Department of Environment and Heritage for his help in selecting an appropriate Landsat image.


References


Bannari A., Morin D., Bonn F. (1995) A review of vegetation indices. Remote Sensing Review 13, 95–120. open url image1

Baret F., Jaquemound S., Hanocq J. F. (1993) The soil line concept in remote sensing. Remote Sensing Reviews 7, 65–82. open url image1

Baret F., Guyot G., Begue A., Maurel P., Podaire A. (1988) Complementarity of middle-infrared with visible and near-infrared reflectance for monitoring wheat canopies. Remote Sensing of Environment 26, 213–225.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Bastin G. N., Ludwig J. A. (2006) Problems and prospects for mapping vegetation condition in Australia’s arid rangelands. Ecological Management & Restoration 7, S71–S74.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Bastin G. N., Sparrow A. D., Pearce G. (1993a) Grazing gradient in central Australian rangelands: ground verification of remote sensing-based approaches. The Rangeland Journal 15, 217–233.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Bastin G. N., Pickup G., Chewings V. H., Pearce G. (1993b) Land degradation assessment in central Australia using a grazing gradient method. The Rangeland Journal 15, 190–216.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Bastin G. N., Tynan R. W., Chewings V. H. (1998) Implementing satellite-based grazing gradient methods for rangeland assessment in South Australia. The Rangeland Journal 20, 61–76.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Bastin G. N. , Chewings V. H. , Pearce G. , and McGregor F. (1999). Assessment of grazing impact on the Barkly tablelands: vegetation index and software. CSIRO report to Department of Lands, Planning and Environment, Northern Territory, Australia (CD-ROM).

Booth D. T., Tueller P. T. (2003) Rangeland monitoring using remote sensing. Arid Land Research and Management 17, 455–467. open url image1

Byrne G. F., Crapper P. F., Mayo K. K. (1980) Monitoring land-cover change by principal component analysis of multitemporal Landsat data. Remote Sensing of Environment 10, 175–184.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Campbell J. B. (1996). ‘Introduction to remote sensing.’ 2nd edn. (Guilford Press: New York.)

Crist E. P. (1985) A TM tasselled cap equivalent transformation for reflectance factor data. Remote Sensing of Environment 17, 301–306.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Department of Water, Land Biodiversity and Conservation (2002). ‘Pastoral lease assessment, technical manual for assessing land condition on pastoral leases in South Australia, 1990–2000.’ Pastoral Program, Sustainable Resources. (DWL&BC: Adelaide.)

Dusek D. A., Jackson R. D., Musick J. T. (1985) Winter wheat vegetation indices calculated from combinations of seven spectral bands. Remote Sensing of Environment 18, 255–267.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Dymond C. C., Mladenoff D. J., Radeloff V. C. (2002) Phenological differences in Tasseled Cap indices improve deciduous forest classification. Remote Sensing of Environment 80, 460–472.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Foran B. , and Pearce G. (1990). The use of NOAA AVHRR and the green vegetation index to assess the 1988/1989 summer growing season in central Australia. In ‘Proceedings of 5th Australasian Remote Sensing Conference’. Perth. pp. 198–207. (Committee of the 5th Remote Sensing Conference: Perth.)

Foran B. D., Pickup G. (1984) Relationship of aircraft radiometric measurements to bare ground on semi-desert landscapes in central Australia. Australian Rangeland Journal 6, 59–68.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Friedel M. H., Shaw K. (1987a) Evaluation of methods for monitoring sparse patterned vegetation in arid rangeland, I. Herbage. Journal of Environmental Management 25, 297–308. open url image1

Friedel M. H., Shaw K. (1987b) Evaluation of methods for monitoring sparse patterned vegetation in arid rangelands. II. Trees and shrubs. Journal of Environmental Management 25, 306–318. open url image1

Fung T., LeDrew E. (1987) Application of principal components analysis to change detection. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 53, 1649–1658. open url image1

Graetz R. D. (1987) Satellite remote sensing of Australian rangelands. Remote Sensing of Environment 23, 313–331.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Graetz R. D., Gentle M. R. (1982) Study of the relationships between reflectance in the Landsat wavebands and the composition of an Australian semi-arid shrub rangeland. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 48, 1721–1730. open url image1

Huete A. R. (1988) A soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI). Remote Sensing of Environment 25, 295–309.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Huete A. R., Post D. F., Jackson R. D. (1984) Soil spectral effect on 4-space vegetation discrimination. Remote Sensing of Environment 15, 155–165.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Ingebritsen S. E., Lyon R. J. P. (1985) Principal components analysis of multitemporal image pairs. International Journal of Remote Sensing 6, 687–696. open url image1

Jin S., Sader S. A. (2005) Comparison of time series tasselled cap wetness and the normalized difference moisture index in detecting forest disturbances. Remote Sensing of Environment 94, 364–372.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Kauth J. R. , and Thomas G. S. (1976). The tasselled cap-A graphic description of the spectral-temporal development of agricultural crops as seen by Landsat. In ‘Proceedings of the LARS 1976 Symposium on Machine Processing of Remotely-sensed Data’. Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. pp. 4B41–44B51. (Committee of the LARS Symposium: West Lafayette.)

Kimes D. S., Markham B. L., Tucker C. J., McMurtrey I. J. E. (1981) Temporal relationships between spectral response and agronomic variables of a corn canopy. Remote Sensing of Environment 11, 401–411.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Kingoonya Soil Conservation Board (1996). ‘Kingoonya Soil Conservation Board district plan.’ (Kingoonya Soil Conservation District Board, Primary Industries: Port Augusta, SA.)

McGregor K. F. , and Lewis M. M. (1996). Quantitative spectral change in chenopod shrublands. In ‘Focus on the future — the heat is on! Proceedings of the 9th Biennial Conference of The Australian Rangeland Society’. Port Augusta, SA. (Eds L. P. Hunt and R. Sinclair.) pp. 153–154. (Australian Rangeland Society: Cottesloe.)

Myneni R. B., Keeling C. D., Tanser C. J., Asrar G., Nemani R. R. (1997) Increased plant growth in the northern high latitudes from 1981 to 1991. Nature 386, 698–702.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

O’Neill A. L. (1996) Satellite-derived vegetation indices applied to semi-arid shrublands in Australia. Australian Geographer 27, 185–199. open url image1

Oštir K., Veljannovski T., Podobnikar T., Stančič Z. (2003) Application of satellite remote sensing in natural hazard management. International Journal of Remote Sensing 24, 3983–4002.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Pastoral Board (1991). Pastoral Board, Department of Water, Land Biodiversity and Conservation, Adelaide, South Australia (CD-ROM).

Pearson R. L. , and Miller L. D. (1972). Remote sensing of standing crop biomass for estimation of the productivity of the shortgrass prairie, Pawnee national grasslands, Colorado. In ‘The 8th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of the Environment’. Ann Arbor, MI. pp. 1355–1379. (Committee of the Symposium: Ann Arbor, MI.)

Pickup G. (1989) New land degradation survey techniques for arid Australia: problems and prospects. Australian Rangeland Journal 11, 74–82.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Pickup G., Nelson D. J. (1984) Use of Landsat radiance parameters to distinguish soil erosion, stability, and deposition in arid central Australia. Remote Sensing of Environment 16, 195–209.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Pickup G., Foran B. D. (1987) The use of spectral and spatial variability to monitor cover change on inert landscapes. Remote Sensing of Environment 23, 361–363.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Pickup G., Chewings V. H., Nelson D. J. (1993) Estimating changes in vegetation cover over time in arid rangelands using Landsat MSS data. Remote Sensing of Environment 43, 243–263.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Pickup G., Bastin G. N., Chewings V. H. (1994) Remote-sensing-based condition assessment for nonequilibrium rangeland under large-scale commercial grazing. Journal of Ecological Applications 4, 497–517.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Price K. P., Guo X., Stiles J. M. (2002) Optimal Landsat TM band combinations and vegetation indices for discrimination of six grassland types in eastern Kansas. International Journal of Remote Sensing 23, 5031–5042.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Purevdorj Ts., Tateishi R., Ishiyama T., Honda Y. (1998) Relationships between percent vegetation cover and vegetation indices. International Journal of Remote Sensing 19, 3519–3535.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Qi J., Chehbouni A., Huete A. R., Kerr Y. H., Sorooshian S. (1994) A modified soil adjusted vegetation index. Remote Sensing of Environment 48, 119–126.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Richardson A. J., Wiegand C. L. (1977) Distinguishing vegetation from soil background information. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 43, 1541–1552. open url image1

Rouse J. W. , Haas R. W. , Schell J. A. , Deering D. W. , and Harlan J. C. (1974). Monitoring the vernal advancement and retrogradation (greenware effect) of natural vegetation. Greenbelt, MD, USA, NASA/GSFCT, Type 3, Final Report.

Satterwhite M. B., Henley J. P. (1987) Spectral characteristics of selected soils and vegetation in northern Nevada and their discrimination using band ratio techniques. Remote Sensing of Environment 23, 155–175.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Thenkabail P. S., Ward A. D., Lyon J. G., Maerry C. J. (1994) Thematic Mapper vegetation indices for determining soybean and corn growth parameters. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 60, 437–442. open url image1

Thiam A. , and Eastman J. R. (2001). ‘Vegetation indices in IDRISI 3.2 release 2, guide to GIS and image processing.’ Vol. 2. (Clark University: Worcester, MA.)

Tueller P. T. (1987) Remote sensing science applications in arid environment. Remote Sensing of Environment 23, 143–154.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Wallace J., Behn G., Furby S. (2006) Vegetation condition assessment and monitoring from sequences of satellite imagery. Ecological Management & Restoration 7, S31–S36.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Wang J., Rich P. M., Price K. P., Kettle W. D. (2004) Relationships between NDVI and tree productivity in the central great plains. International Journal of Remote Sensing 25, 3127–3138.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Wessels K. J., Prince S. D., Frost P. E., Zyl D. V. (2004) Assessing the effects of human-induced land degradation in the former homelands of northern South Africa. Remote Sensing of Environment 91, 47–67.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

White J. , and Gould P. (2002). ‘Gawler bioregion vegetation monitoring. Pastoral Program, Sustainable Resources.’ (The Department of Conservation: Adelaide.)

Wilson A. D., Abraham N. A., Barratt R., Choate J., Green D. R., Harland R. J., Oxley R. E., Stanley R. J. (1987) Evaluation of methods of assessing vegetation change in the semi-arid rangelands of southern Australia. Australian Rangeland Journal 9, 5–13.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1