Authors:
Gheorghe Stancalie
1
;
Argentina Nertan
1
and
Florin Serban
2
Affiliations:
1
National Meteorological Administration, Romania
;
2
Advanced Studies and Research Center, Romania
Keyword(s):
agricultural drought, satellite, vegetation indices.
Abstract:
In Romania, the complex agricultural drought is a climatic hazard inducing the worst consequences ever
occurred in agriculture. The paper presents the results of recent studies developed in the National
Meteorological Administration, in the framework of national and European R&D projects, regarding the use
of satellite-derived products for agricultural drought monitoring. In this respect, different vegetation indices,
biophysical parameters and physically-based vegetation state indicators have been used and tested in study
areas over Romania, in order to monitor and assess the drought impact on crops, at different phenological
dates. The main sources of satellite data and related products were provided by TERRA/AQUA-Modis,
SPOT-Vegetation and Landsat TM/ETM+. By examining spatial and temporal patterns of satellite-derived
products and comparing/correlating with the field conditions measured on site, it was determined that the
NDVI, NDWI and NDDI vegetation indices, the leaf area inde
x (LAI) and the fraction of absorbed
photosynthetical active radiation (fAPAR) proved to be good indicators of the vegetation condition and
relevant for the settlement, duration and intensity of the agricultural drought.
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