Monitoring Landslides Conditions in Madeira Island Using NOAA Operational Satellites

摘要

Soil water excess,as well as deficit,leads to vegetation stress,i.e.,photosynthesis decline,stomata closure,growth reduction,decrease in respiration and biomass production.Therefore,vegetation response can be used as indicator of changing in soil conditions,which corresponds to such phenomena as drought or soil waterlogging and associated natural disasters.During last 20 years,National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration,National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Services(NOAA/NESDIS)satellite-based vegetation health indices(VHI)were successfully used for monitoring environmentally-based vegetation stress,including droughts,fire risk,soil saturation and other natural hazards around the world.In this study,the VHI were applied to verify the possibility their utilization for detection landslide risk areas in Madeira Island.Vegetation condition index(VCI)and registered precipitation were analyzed together with information on landslide occurrence in recent years.