farzaneh hadadi; Davod Ashourloo; Alireza Shakiba; Aliakbar Matkan
Abstract
Climate change is one of the most important challenges facing mankind. This phenomenon has already had significant impacts on agricultural products in most parts of the world, especially arid and semiarid regions. Also, average temperature has risen in many regions in recent decades. Nowadays, in various ...
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Climate change is one of the most important challenges facing mankind. This phenomenon has already had significant impacts on agricultural products in most parts of the world, especially arid and semiarid regions. Also, average temperature has risen in many regions in recent decades. Nowadays, in various researches, remote sensing indices are used as one of the new methods in identifying climate change. One of the important indices of remote sensing is the phonological characteristics of vegetation, which in recent studies has shown great potential in identification and estimation of vegetation. In the present study, using the 5-day normalized vegetation index (NDVI) time series of NOAA-AVHRR images and plant phenology parameters, vegetation changes in rangelands and dryland areas of Lake Urmia Basin during 1984-2013 were investigated. Climatic temperature and precipitation data was obtained from the meteorological stations of Lake Urmia basin and was compared with the results of satellite images. The results of time series analysis over thirty years of statistical period in Lake Urmia basin showed that the beginning of the growing season in Oshnavieh, Saghez and Sarab started earlier in 2013 than in 1984. But in the Maragheh area it began later. The end of the growing season in Oshnaviyeh, Saghez and Takab has ended earlier. Also, the peak growth parameter in the above mentioned vegetation reached its maximum value earlier. The length of the growing season has been decreased in the cities of Oshnavieh, Maragheh and Saghez, respectively. The results of statistical analysis obtained from satellite images and climatic data showed that changes in phonological parameters are location dependent and also decreased and increased in cold nights and hot days at the beginning of the growing season, respectively. But at the end of the growing season, the warm days have increased. These changes increased the slope of the plant growth phenology curve at the time of plant aging and ultimately reduced the length of the growing season.
