Mapping vegetation phenology in the Sahel and Soudan, Africa, 1982 to 2005

• Main Author: Heumann, Benjamin W.
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: McGill University 2006
• Subjects: Vegetation monitoring > Sahel > Remote sensing.; Vegetation and climate > Sahel > Remote sensing.; Plant phenology > Sahel > Remote sensing.; Vegetation monitoring > Sudan (Region) > Remote sensing.; Vegetation and climate > Sudan (Region) > Remote sensing.; Plant phenology > Sudan (Region) > Remote sensing.
• Online Access: http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=101139

The Sahel and Soudan regions of Africa are hot-spots for vegetation change due to climatic and anthropogenic causes. Recent studies using remote sensing have demonstrated that vegetation recovery has occurred across the region questioning the occurrence of widespread land degradation in the region. These studies have focused on proxy measurements of net primary productivity, but have not addressed seasonal characteristics of vegetation such as phenology. This thesis examines how vegetation phenology has changed from 1982--2005 in the Sahel and Soudan regions and how phenology relates to observed bio-productivity and regional precipitation patterns. This is the first research to assess multi-decadal phenology change for a tropical ecosystem. Results show that while bio-productivity has significantly increased in the Sahel, significant phenology change has primarily been detected in the Soudan region. Furthermore, the relationship between phenology and bio-productivity and precipitation differs between the Sahel and Soudan. This research demonstrates the utility of measuring phenological change of a tropical ecosystem for vegetation monitoring applications.