ESA - Eduspace EN - Global Change - Exercise 2: Vegetation cover (NDVI) (for university students)

Coastal change

Danube Delta change detection Oil spills

Deforestation

Bardia National Park Congo River Basin Kameng-Sonitpur Elephant Reserve Kilimanjaro Rondonia Shillong and Guwahati

Ice

Antarctica 2003 Climate change and glaciers Glacier analysis using radar imagery Glacial retreat in the Alps Glacier Ice Flow Monitoring of glaciers in the Himalayas Remote sensing of ice and snow

Urbanisation

Cairo City of Kathmandu Córdoba Himalayas Kathmandu Valley Lagos

Vegetation

Annapurna Conservation Area Lost in the Andes Ngorongoro Conservation Area Niger Inland Delta Vegetation in South America

Exercise 2: Vegetation cover (NDVI) (for university students)

The objective of this exercise is to study the density of the vegetation found in this area of South America, and to correlate vegetation and regional climate.

You should now observe satellite data collected during different seasons. We do not use real images for this. Instead, we will look at “Normalized Vegetation Index” images, which show the density of vegetation cover.

In order to do this exercise you will need the following:

July_NDVI_Latin_America.tif
January_NDVI_Latin_America.tif
MERIS_FR_20070318……annotated.tif or GIS-files
LEOWorks image processing software

Display the two NDVI images and the annotated MERIS image in LeoWorks. Look at the two NDVI images carefully.

Vegetation Index July

Vegetation Index January

1. Which of these images represents summer, and which represents winter?

NDVI legend
Justify your answer by explaining what elements you used to come to this conclusion. Use the thematic maps of your Atlas. Remember: the greener the image, the denser and stronger the vegetation cover!

With the help of the cursor, find the geographic area we have been studying.

2. What are the differences between the eastern and western side of the Andes, and between winter and summer?

Discuss these eastern and western differences along the other parts of the mountain range.

Explain the differences found in the different sections (southern, central, and northern) of the image.

Use the other high resolution MERIS image showing the location of the accident. (In LEOWorks4 click on “Synchronise cursor position”.)

Load the two NDVI images in the Animation tool and flicker the two images. Regulate the speed of the animation.

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Lost in the Andes!

Lost in the Andes Introduction Background

Exercises

Exercise 1: The Andean region Exercise 3: The geographical setting of the accident Exercise 4: The route back to civilisation Exercise 5: Expedition “Alive!”Exercise 6: A multidisciplinary workshop

Eduspace - Software

LEOWorks 3 LEOWorks 4 (MacOS)LEOWorks 4 (Windows)LEOWorks 4 (Linux)

Eduspace - Download

Lost_in_the_Andes.zip