Chin J Plant Ecol ›› 2006, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (3): 365-374.DOI: 10.17521/cjpe.2006.0050

• Original article •     Next Articles

MONITORING GROWING SEASON OF TYPICAL STEPPE IN NORTHERN CHINA BASED ON NOAA/AVHRR NDVI DATA

WANG Hong, LI Xiao-Bing*(), YU Hong-Jing   

  1. College of Resources Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Environmental Change and Natural Disaster of the Ministry of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
  • Accepted:2005-12-20 Published:2006-05-30
  • Contact: LI Xiao-Bing

Abstract:

Vegetation greenup is closely related to seasonal dynamics of the lower atmosphere and, therefore, is an important variable influencing the feedback mechanisms of global climate variation to terrestrial ecosystem. Detecting vegetation greenup using remotely sensed data at regional or global scale has become an advanced topic in geography and ecology. However, current methods of remote sensing-based vegetation greenup detection are short of valid comparison and do not have a consistent results.

This paper utilizes computer simulation technique to explore the seasonal dynamics of typical steppe grassland in Xilingole, Inner Mongolia, using NOAA/AVHRR NDVI data from 1982 to 1999. Firstly, Savitzky-Golay filter algorithm is used to smooth NOAA/AVHRR time-series images from 1982 to 1999. Secondly, the curve-fitting technique is applied to phenological phase (turning green date and wilting date) in each year and to the average phenological phase and length of growing season from 1982 to 1999 for the typical steppe grassland in Xilingole, Inner Mongolia. Finally, the trend of change in phenological phase is analyzed for the typical steppe grassland in Xilingole during the 18 years.

The results indicate that 1) the turning green date in 1982, 1986 and 1992 was placed in normal level, but that in 1985, 1988, 1989 and 1991 was advanced in most areas. The wilting date in 1984, 1990 and 1993 was also placed in normal level and the wilting date in most years was mainly from the last ten-day of September to the first ten-day of October (290-310 days). 2) Turning green date of all typical steppe grassland showed large variability. The wilting date of southwestern area was earlier than that of central and northwestern area, but the length of growing season didn't show the same pattern of change. The length of growing season in southwestern area was the shortest and that in central area was the longest. 3) From 1982 to 1999, the phenological phase and length of growing season of the turning green date and the wilting date of typical steppe grassland showed the characteristics of advancing or delaying in different areas. The delay time for turning green date of typical steppe grassland in most areas mainly focused on 10-20 days, and the advance time for turning green date was less than 10 days. The advancing trend in wilting date was the greatest in northwestern area in Xilingole. The length of growing season showed a shortening trend and the shortening date was less than 10 days. Increase in the length of growing season was little in Xilingole, and it mostly focused on 0-10 days. 4)The research on phenology of the typical steppe grassland in Xilingole indicated that the turning green date of the typical steppe grassland advanced less than 10 days, the wilting date postponed for about 14±5 days, and the length of growing season increased about 15±5 days. Lastly, the precision of phenology phase in Xilingole is evaluated by the observation data in the field.

Key words: NDVI, Turning green date, Wilting date, Length of growing season, Typical steppe