Introduction

Data products distributed by the Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) are used in many different Earth Science applications. LP DAAC products play an important role in modeling, detecting changes to the landscape, and assessing ecosystem variables, to name a few. Three of those applications, published between January and March 2019, are highlighted below. 

Vegetation Trends Across Mainland Spain

This study uses Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data to assess long-term vegetation trends across Spain and their relationship to land cover and phytoclimatic zones.

Science Objectives

Changes in the seasonal development of vegetation are a good indicator of climate change; however, the impact varies from one land-cover type to the next. Thus, in the paper "Recent NDVI trends in mainland Spain—Land-cover and phytoclimatic-type implications" published in the International Journal of Geo-Information, Novillo and others (2019) set out to analyze long-term vegetation trends in mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands using NDVI data from the Terra MODIS Vegetation Indices product (MOD13Q1) from 2001 to 2016.

Instruments Used

The authors evaluate the changes in trends with the corresponding land-cover type using Co-Ordination of Information of the Environment (CORINE) Land Cover (CLC) maps and phytoclimatic regions based on the Allué Classification.

Major Findings

Novillo found that the region’s NDVI data showed more positive trends (11.8 percent) than negative trends (7.6 percent) overall, which they attributed to an increase in photosynthetic activity across Europe from factors such as longer growing seasons and increases in forested areas. However, the negative NDVI trends they found are higher than NDVI trends found in previous regional studies towards the end of the 20th century. The authors found significant negative trends in the Spanish Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, areas south of the Iberian mountain range, within the Sierra Morena mountain range, and in the Balearic Islands. The authors found positive trends in northeastern Spain, the Northern Plateau, the Central System, and the Guadalquivir Valley. They conclude by stating that remote sensing datasets are among the best options for assessing trends in vegetation dynamics, and that further research is critical to understanding and managing this region in the future.

References

Publication Reference

Novillo, C., Arrogante-Funes, P., and Romer-Calcerrada, R., 2019, Recent NDVI trends in mainland Spain—Land-cover and phytoclimatic-type implications: International Journal of Geo-Information, v. 8, no. 1, art. no. 43. doi:10.3390/ijgi8010043

Image References

Granule IDs

• MOD13Q1.A2016129.h17v04.006.2016147113016
• MOD13Q1.A2016129.h17v05.006.2016147113110
• MOD13Q1.A2016129.h18v04.006.2016147113123
• MOD13Q1.A2016129.h18v05.006.2016147113120

Data Citation

Didan, K.. MOD13Q1 MODIS/Terra Vegetation Indices 16-Day L3 Global 250m SIN Grid V006. 2015, distributed by NASA EOSDIS Land Processes DAAC, doi:10.5067/MODIS/MOD13Q1.006

Boundary Source

Global Administrative Unit Layers (GAUL) dataset, implemented by FAO within the CountrySTAT and Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) projects.

Urban Growth and Land Surface Temperature

Researchers examined how urban growth patterns in Italy’s Po Valley affected land surface temperature between 2001 and 2011.

Science Objectives

In their paper "Effects of urban growth spatial pattern (UGSP) on the land surface temperature (LST)—A study in the Po Valley (Italy)" published in Science of the Total Environment, Zullo and others (2019) examine how different urban growth spatial patterns (UGSP) impacted Land Surface Temperatures (LST) in the Po Valley in Italy between 2001 to 2011.

Instruments Used

For this study, the authors use Terra MODIS Daytime and Nighttime LST data (MOD11A2) from the LP DAAC, combined with urbanization data from the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) database to conduct an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test, as well as a post-hoc analysis using the Turkey-Kramer test.

Major Findings

The authors found that during the study period, the Po Valley saw an increase in urban area of 630 square kilometers (240 square miles). The average daytime LST in the region increased by 1.36 °C, and the average nighttime LST increased by 0.53 °C, for an overall daily increase of 0.93°C over the 10-year study period. In some areas, the authors found an increase of over 2 °C in daily LST. The study also found that the range between daytime and nighttime temperatures decreased in areas where urban cover progressively increased, which can lead to a lack of cooling relief at night. The authors believe their results provide useful information to raise public awareness about how different UGSPs can impact temperature changes on a local scale.

References

Publication Reference

Zullo, F., Fazio, G., Romano, B., Marucci, A., and Fiorini, L., 2019, Effects of urban growth spatial pattern (UGSP) on the land surface temperature (LST)—A study in the Po Valley (Italy): Science of the Total Environment, v. 650, pt. 2, p. 1740–1751. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.09.331

Image References

Granule IDs

• MOD11A2.A2011121.h18v04.006.2016055032636
• MOD11A2.A2011121.h19v04.006.2016055032634

Data Citation

Wan, Z., S. Hook, G. Hulley. MOD11A2 MODIS/Terra Land Surface Temperature/Emissivity 8-Day L3 Global 1km SIN Grid V006. 2015, distributed by NASA EOSDIS Land Processes DAAC, doi:10.5067/MODIS/MOD11A2.006

Boundary Source

Global Administrative Unit Layers (GAUL) dataset, implemented by FAO within the CountrySTAT and Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) projects.

Detecting Geothermal Activity in Turkey

This study applies Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) and MODIS thermal data to monitor geothermal anomalies in the Tuzla region of western Turkey.

Science Objectives

Geothermal energy is a renewable, environmentally-friendly, and reliable energy source that could reduce our reliance on non-renewable energy resources. Therefore, Sekertekin and Arslan (2019) set out to learn more about this energy source using daytime and nighttime Thermal Infrared (TIR) data from the Terra ASTER satellite sensor (AST_L1T) and Landsat 8.

Instruments Used

For this study, described in the paper "Monitoring thermal anomaly and radiative heat flux using thermal infrared satellite imagery—A case study at Tuzla geothermal region" published in Geothermics, the authors use satellite data from 2012, 2013, and 2017 to find thermal anomalies in the Tuzla Village geothermal region of Turkey. The authors use the Mono-window Algorithm (MWA), developed by previous researchers, to retrieve LST images from the ASTER TIR bands. In this paper, the authors specifically used TIR Band 14. The authors first examined these images, then masked the nighttime images to evaluate for geothermal activity. The results were then cross-validated with Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) LST data and verified with Radiative Heat Flux images. The authors also examined Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) derived from Landsat data, used to retrieve land surface emissivity.

Major Findings

The results indicate that nighttime LST data are significantly more efficient in finding thermal anomalies in geothermal areas than daytime LST data. They also found that while geothermal areas had higher LST values, the NDVI values of these areas remained the same as the values of surrounding non-geothermal areas with similar vegetation. Therefore, they were led to believe that these areas are sources of geothermal anomalies. This was also confirmed when the areas overlapped with areas from previous in-situ geothermal studies. The authors believe remote sensing data can be a great resource to study the spatial distribution of geothermal activity. However, since these data only provide information about the surface of the Earth, it would be beneficial to conduct a future study with simultaneous ground data measurements and satellite imagery.

References

Publication Reference

Sekertekin, A., and Arslan, N., 2019, Monitoring thermal anomaly and radiative heat flux using thermal infrared satellite imagery—A case study at Tuzla geothermal region: Geothermics, v. 78, p. 243–254. doi:10.1016/j.geothermics.2018.12.014

Image References

Granule IDs

• AST_L1T_00312312017201427_20180101103747_28821
• AST_L1T_00312312017201436_20180101104107_9281

Data Citation

NASA LP DAAC. ASTER Level 1 Precision Terrain Corrected Registered At-Sensor Radiance V003. 2015, distributed by NASA EOSDIS Land Processes DAAC, doi:10.5067/ASTER/AST_L1T.003