Land Use/Cover Response to Rainfall Variability: A Comparing Analysis between NDVI and EVI in the Southwest of Burkina Faso

Abstract
Abstract: A comparative analysis of the sensitivity of NDVI and EVI to rainfall indicators has been carried out for different land use/covers in the Southwest of Burkina Faso. Three classified land use/covers maps for 1999, 2006 and 2011 were produced and change detection was applied to locate persistent areas. Thereafter monthly vegetation indices of plots of 750 × 750 m2 were extracted from 2001 to 2011 for persistent woodland, mixed vegetation, and agricultural area within 5 km radius around four rain gauges. Furthermore, correlation analysis to measure the relationship between vegetation indices and rainfall indicators was performed. The results indicate some similarities between NDVI and EVI. Both indices, for all land use/covers, showed significant and strong positive correlation with the rainfall indicators. In general, NDVI was more sensitive to rainfall than EVI in the study area, but the difference between the Pearson’s coefficient values of both vegetation indices was insignificant. The findings of this work agree with some previous studies, but OPEN ACCESSClimate 2015, 3 64 contrasting conclusions were also noted in literature. Hence wider spatial investigation will be necessary to confirm the results of this paper
Description
Thia article is published in Climate and also available at Climate 2015, 3, 63-77; doi:10.3390/cli3010063.
Keywords
land use/cover, EVI, NDVI, rainfall indicators, Burkina Faso, West Africa
Citation
Climate, 10.3390
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