Application of Vegetation Condition Index and Standardized Vegetation Index for Assessment of Spring Drought in South Korea

Abstract

To effectively deal with the spring drought facing South Korea periodically since 2000, a monitoring system to keep tracing the drought is critical, along with the index indicating the severity of the drought in a quantified value. To conduct the in-depth evaluation of the behavior and intensity of the drought by region, a spatial analysis by area unit is needed. Satellite imagery is an effective tool that provides spatial information regularly in a timely manner and the vegetation index developed using band combination of satellite imagery has been used for monitoring the drought since the mid-1990s. In this study, VCI and SVI were produced, using MODIS NDVI to evaluate the droughts that occurred during the period 2000 to 2007, investigating the years, severity and the regions and times where and when the drought occurred the most. Moreover, comparing with existing monitoring tool was conducted, thereby presenting the efficient method for spring drought monitoring using vegetation index.