Journal of Remote Sensing & GIS Volume 4, Issue 1, ISSN: 2230 -7990 __________________________________________________________________________________________

Correlation between Enhanced Vegetation Indices and Rainfall Patterns of Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh
Farid Khan*1, Santosh Kumar2 Anurag Group of Institutions, Hyderabad, India 2 Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad, India
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Abstract
Vegetation indices enhance vegetation spectral signatures by combining bands of red (630700 nm) and near-infrared wavelengths (7001100 nm). This can be best suited to study vital activity of vegetation on land surface. Kurnool district is chosen to assess the capability of continuous spatial and temporal coverage; MODIS-derived enhanced vegetation indices (EVI) data were utilized to monitor the vegetation seasonal dynamics and their relationship with precipitation. Statistical analysis of mandal-wise mean EVI and corresponding seasonal rainfall data show the proportional relation with positive correlation. MODIS EVI is a good indicator of vegetation change with respect to rainfall. Further study is needed to refine the correlation between EVI and rainfall. This work enables demarcation of areas on the basis of density of forest; also, it helps in identifying the effect of rainfall for the healthy growth of vegetation. Finally, the drought prone area can be identified for timely remedial action. The results also show the possibility of predicting vegetation change in the study area due to rainfall using the derived relationships among vegetation and rainfall with the use of public domain low-resolution satellite data and ground observations.

Keywords: enhanced vegetation index (EVI), moderate resolution imaging spectralradiometer (MODIS)

*Author for Correspondence E-mail: faridkhan999gmail.com, 8886739990 INTRODUCTION

Vegetation Indices (VIs) are spectral transformations of two or more bands designed to enhance the contribution of vegetation properties and allow reliable spatial and temporal intercomparisons of terrestrial photosynthetic activity and canopy structural variations. The enhanced vegetation index (EVI) was developed to optimize the vegetation signal with improved sensitivity in high-biomass regions and improved vegetation monitoring through decoupling of the canopy background signal and reduction in atmosphere influences [1]. The EVI data are designed to provide consistent, spatial and temporal comparisons of vegetation conditions, and it offers the potential for regional analysis and systematic and effective monitoring of the forest area. Several global and regional studies have previously investigated the relationship between NDVI and rainfall in different parts of the world [2]. Indian climate is dominated by two monsoons, named as Southwest (summer) and Northeast (winter) monsoons. The summer monsoons roar onto the subcontinent (India) from the southwest, the winds carry moisture from the Indian Ocean and bring heavy rains from June to September. The summer monsoons are welcomed in India. Farmers depend on the rains to irrigate their land. Additionally, a great deal of Indias electricity is generated by waterpower provided by the monsoon rains. Indian agriculture (which accounts for 25% of the GDP and employs 70% of the population) is heavily dependent on rains, especially crops like cotton, rice, oilseeds and coarse grains. A delay of a few days in the arrival of the monsoon can, and does, badly affect the economy, as evidenced in the numerous droughts that have taken place in the country. India experiences high rainfall between June and September. The withdrawal of Northwest monsoon begins in early October and continues till late November. Northeast winds bring Northwest monsoon, also referred as retreating monsoon, in the southern
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Enhanced Vegetation Indices and Rainfall Patterns Khan and Kumar __________________________________________________________________________________________

peninsula during the month of October thereby influencing Southwest monsoon. The remainder 20% occurs during the Northeast monsoon, cyclones and local weather-related phenomena. India has a love-hate relationship with monsoon, because too much rain and large swathes of land are turned into virtual islands with millions displaced and not enough rain means crippling drought, with all its related downward spiraling economic and development implications. Furthermore, there may be droughts and floods in the same area.

OBJECTIVES
The current study was carried out with the following aims and objectives: Computation of mandal-wise mean EVI. Computation of mandal-wise eight-day average rainfall from DES data. Monitor the vegetation seasonal dynamics and their relationship with precipitation. Establish the statistical relationship between EVI and rainfall.

METHODOLOGY
Earth observation satellites Terra and Aqua contain a sensor called Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer. Terra EOS is AM satellite as it orbits around the Earth in the morning, traversing the equator in north to south direction. Aqua EOS is a PM satellite as it orbits around the Earth in the afternoon, traversing the equator in south to north direction. MODIS data obtained through Terra and Aqua contain 36 spectral bands. This data can be used to understand global changes and in decision making for environmental protection.

STUDY AREA
The district derives its name from Kandanavolu. Kurnool district lies between the northern latitudes of 14 54 and 16 18 and eastern longitudes of 76 58 and 79 34. The altitude of the district varies from 100 ft above the mean sea level. This district is bounded on the north by Tungabhadra and Krishna rivers as well as Mahabubnagar district, on the south by Kadapa and Ananthapur districts, on the west by Bellary district of Karnataka state and on the east by Prakasam district. The map of the study area is shown in Figure 1. The district ranks 10th in population with 35,29,494 people accounting for 4.63% of the population of the state as per 2011 population census, while in area it occupies the third place with 17659 sq. km, which accounts for 4.61% of the total area of the state. At present, Kurnool district comprises three revenue divisions, 54 revenue mandals, 926 revenue villages and 647 hamlet villages.

EVI is used for monitoring of vegetation by enhancing spectral signatures of vegetation from regions rich in biomass. Near-infrared, red and blue indicate surface reflectances which are atmospherically corrected. The coefficients of the aerosol resistance are denoted as C1 and C2 which identify and correct aerosol influences in the red band. The common range of EVI for green vegetation is 0.2 to 0.8. The canopy background adjustment factor (L) was found to be 1. The coefficients of the aerosol resistance (C1 and C2) were found to be 6 and 7.5. The gain factor was found to be 2.5. [3]. The 250 m MODIS VI product will consist of only the NDVI, since the EVI utilizes the 500 m blue channel and only the red and NIR bands are at 250 m resolution. Simple polynomial regression analyses between EVI and seven-month seasonal rainfall for the study area are developed. These

Fig.1: Kurnool District Map.

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Journal of Remote Sensing & GIS Volume 4, Issue 1, ISSN: 2230 -7990 __________________________________________________________________________________________

relationships could be used for deriving missing rainfall data using the EVI values. Y = 0.0005X + 0.2752 (1) Y = 0.0005X + 0.2537 (2)

Fig. 2: MODIS Satellite Image of Kurnool District (22 weeks stacked MODIS Images). EVI Overview MODIS 250 m (TERRA/AQUA) 16-day mean EVI data during 25 May31 Dec 2009 is obtained. Combination of TERRA/AQUA gives every 8 days one data set of EVI; a total of 28 data sets were used for this study. The MODIS satellite image is shown in Figure 2. Findings of the present study showed the potentials of MODIS data for monitoring enhanced vegetation indices (EVI) dynamics and changes in rainfall at a high temporal frequency. During the study period, the 8-day mean EVI values of dry, wet and intermediate zones of the study area varied within a range of 01. Hence, it could be concluded that the observed EVI values reflect the general pattern of land cover over the study area in which the natural vegetations are the prominent land cover type. Clear difference was observed in nine mandals of the study area among 54 mandals of Kurnool district, where low correlation was observed for nine mandals ranging less than 30% and high correlation was observed for 45 mandals ranging from 30 to 92%. A strong and statistically significant correlation exists in 10 mandals of the study area varying from 75 to 92% derived from the correlation formula mentioned above.

In general, the observed patterns of variations in EVI and rainfall in the present study reflected the variations in the vegetation cover over the ground surfaces during dry and wet spells of the year. The enhanced vegetation index (EVI) was proposed to reduce both atmospheric and soil background noise simultaneously [4]. The rainfall pattern from 01 June30 September 2009 is presented in Figure 3. The rainfall pattern from 01 June14 September 2009 is presented in Figure 4. The rainfall pattern from 01 June06 September 2009 is presented in Figure 5. The rainfall pattern from 01 June22 September 2009 is presented in Figure 3. The data representing district-wise annual rainfall in terms of relative frequencies and percentage of departure from actual rainfall is presented in Table 1. Annual rainfall for the year 2009 in millimeters (mm) is presented in Figure 9. Annual rainfall for the year 2010 in millimeters (mm) is presented in Figure 9

Fig. 3: Rainfall 01 June-06 September 2009.

Fig. 4: Rainfall 1 June-14 September 2009.

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Enhanced Vegetation Indices and Rainfall Patterns Khan and Kumar __________________________________________________________________________________________

Fig. 5: Rainfall 01 June-22 September 2009.

Fig .6. Rainfall 01 June-30 September 2009.

Table 1: KURNOOL district Rainfall (MM) for 2009-2010. Months January February March April May June July August September October November December 2009 R/F 0.1 0 12.8 0 67.5 88.6 24.7 88.5 227.3 197.2 57.8 3.4 2009 %DEP -90 -100 137 -100 34 15 -79 -25 56 112 134 -28 2010 R/F 4.1 0 0 18.8 41.4 91.7 194 208.5 124.5 80.6 48.2 11.4 2010 %DEP 310 -100 -100 12 -18 19 66 77 -15 -14 95 143

Fig. 7: EVI map and Rainfall Status-30 August-06 September 2009.

Fig. 8: EVI Map and Rainfall Status-07 September-14 September 2009.

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Journal of Remote Sensing & GIS Volume 4, Issue 1, ISSN: 2230 -7990 __________________________________________________________________________________________

Fig. 9: Kurnool District Rainfall-2010.

Fig. 10: Kurnool District Rainfall-2009.

CONCLUSIONS
The use of low spatial resolution high temporal frequency spectral imagery such as MODIS data could be considered as a promising approach for monitoring the enhanced vegetation indices for seven months. MODIS EVI is a good indicator of drought with respect to rainfall. The EVI was specifically developed to be more sensitive to changes in areas having high biomass, reduce the influence of atmospheric conditions on vegetation index values, and for correcting the canopy background signals. Regression analysis revealed that the MODIS-EVI showed a good coefficient correlation factor with regard to estimations of the total and live biomass and precipitation. MODIS-EVI data can provide accurate and timely crop condition information. It will help the concerned agriculture departments in high temporal monitoring during growing season up to mandal level. Using daily MODIS-EVI data, we can develop an integrated agriculture monitoring system.

It will coordinate among agriculture, irrigation and revenue departments in estimation of irrigated land, proper management of water and finally can predict food production This project work is the first attempt over the Kurnool district to assess the capability of continuous spatial and temporal coverage. MODIS-derived enhanced vegetation indices (EVI) 16-day composite time-series data were utilized to monitor the vegetation seasonal dynamics and their relationship with precipitation. Statistical analysis of mandal-wise mean EVI and corresponding seasonal rainfall data is observed. It is found that the statistical correlation between mean EVI and seasonal rainfall is highest in Jupadubanglow mandal, where the correlation is 91.8%. This gives an indication that vegetation in this mandal is healthy. It is also found that the statistical correlation between mean EVI and seasonal rainfall is least for Kosigi mandal, where the correlation is 30%. This gives an indication that in this area the vegetation is not healthy as compared to others. It is also found that the statistical correlation between EVI and average rainfall is above 30% in 45 mandals. The following Table shows that the statistical correlation between EVI and average rainfall is less than 30% in nine mandals, because of mixed crops. The results also show the possibility of predicting vegetation change in the study area due to rainfall using the derived relationships among vegetation and rainfall with the use of public domain low resolution satellite data and ground observations. In our current study, we compared only one meteorological parameter. In future, we would include other crop growth influencing parameters like temperature, soil type, etc.

REFERENCES
1. Huete A, Didan K, Miura T, et al. Overview of the Radiometric and Biophysical Performance of the MODIS
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Vegetation Indices. Remote Sens. Environ 2002; 83:195213p. 2. Wuttichai Gunnula, Manit Kosittrakun, Timothy L. Righetti, et al. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index Relationships with Rainfall Patterns and Yield in Small Plantings of Rain-Fed Sugarcane. AJCS 2011; 5(13):18451851p. 3. Huete A, Liu H, Batchily K, et al. A Comparison of Vegetation Indices over a Global Set of TM Images for EOSMODIS. Remote Sens. Environ 1997; 59:440451p. 4. Bunkei Matsushita, Wei Yang, Jin Chen, et al. Sensitivity of the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to Topographic Effects: A Case Study in High-Density

Cypress Forest. Sensors 2007; 7:2636 2651p. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Farid Khan is working as Assistant Professor in Anurag Group of Institutions. He has obtained M.Sc degree in Plant Sciences from Hyderabad Central University and M.Tech in Environmental Management from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad. Areas of Specialization in Environmental Geomatics. Dr.Santosh Kumar, Co-Author, is working as Lecturer in Jawaharlal Nehru Tehcnological University Hyderabad. Areas of Specialization in Environmental Science & Geomatics, Remote Sensing & GIS, GPS.

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