Fractional Vegetation Cover Estimation Based on MODIS Satellite Data from 2000 to 2013: a Case Study of Qinghai Province

Abstract

Fractional vegetation cover (FVC) is an important ecological parameter and indication for ecological environment change. As the main part of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Qinghai Province is a more sensitive area of climate change and fragile zone of ecology environment. In this study, multi-temporal satellite data were analyzed to estimate FVC from 2000 to 2013 in Qinghai Province using no-dense & dense model. When 1 < Leaf Area Index (LAI) < 3, the no-dense model was used and dense model was used under other conditions. This study explored the application of MODIS data in FVC estimation. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data, Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR) and Leaf Area Index (LAI) products were acquired from MOD13A1 and MOD15A2. FVC highly related to LAI, light extinction coefficient and FPAR was estimated using no-dense & dense model. Slope map was calculated by multiple years FVC results. The increased tendency of FVC in this area illustrated the improving ecological environment. However, ecological and environmental problems of Qinghai Lake are still needed to be solved.