Vegetational response of rainfall in Rajasthan using AVHRR imagery

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the suitability of NOAA-AVHRR imagery for monitoring vegetal cover. Of course, climate is recognized as the most important control on natural vegetation. However, spatial and seasonal changes in land cover are dependent on several factors including the crop species, soil hydrology, grazing conditions, harvest timing and above all on the frequency and amount of rainfall. The analysis is based on six maximum value composite (MVC) NDVI images with a spatial resolution of approximately 5.5 km. An attempt has also been made to examine the serial relationship between the NDVI and the rainfall occurrences at different stations. ‘Thar Desert’ is clearly visible in the images of summer months. A transitional zone is situated between the arid and semi-arid areas along the western fringe of the Aravalli Range. The elimination of time lag in vegetational response of rainfall indicates expected positive relationship between vegetal cover and rainfall.