Drought Monitoring Using Vegetation and LST Indices in Nepal and Northeastern India

摘要

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor onboard the Terra satellite which is on orbit since December 1999 has high temporal resolution and is promising for drought monitoring This study proposes a new drought index Vegetation Water Temperature Condition Index (VWTCI) for monitoring drought at regional level. The VWTCI includes the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), which is the measurement of the water status in vegetation along with Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Land Surface Temperature (LST). Finally the comparison with Vegetation Temperature Condition Index (VTCI) is made with Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) 3B31 PR data to validate the approach. The main objective of the study is to identify, monitor and predict drought by using satellite remote sensing data.