SAGA GIS for information extraction on presence and conditions of vegetation of northern coast of Iceland based on the Landsat TM

• Main Author: Lemenkova, Polina
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: figshare 2020
• Subjects: 90901 Cartography; FOS Environmental engineering; Geography; Physical Geography; 40699 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience not elsewhere classified; FOS Earth and related environmental sciences; 80109 Pattern Recognition and Data Mining; FOS Computer and information sciences; 80106 Image Processing; 120504 Land Use and Environmental Planning; FOS Social and economic geography; 59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified; Environmental Science; 50206 Environmental Monitoring; 50203 Environmental Education and Extension; Education; 130306 Educational Technology and Computing; FOS Educational sciences; Arctic; Iceland; ice covered areas
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13176872; https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/SAGA_GIS_for_information_extraction_on_presence_and_conditions_of_vegetation_of_northern_coast_of_Iceland_based_on_the_Landsat_TM/13176872

The paper aims to evaluate the presence and condition of vegetation by SAGA GIS. The study area covers northern coasts of Iceland including two fjords, the Eyjafjörður and the Skagafjörður, prosperous agricultural regions. The vegetation coverage in Iceland experience the impact of harsh climate, land use, livestock grazing, glacial ablation and volcanism. The data include the Landsat TM image. The methodology is based on computing raster bands for simulating Tassel Cap Transformation (wetness, greenness and brightness) and Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) sensitive to high biomass. The results include modelled three bands of brightness, greenness and wetness. Greenness variation shows the least values in ice-covered areas (-56.98 to -18.69). High values (-23.48 to 9.12) are in the valleys with dense vegetation, correlating with the geomorphology of the river network, the vegetation-free areas and ocean which corresponds to the peak of 30.87 to 41.19. The bell-shaped data distribution shows frequency 43.19–141.74 for vegetation indicating healthy state and canopy density. Maximal values are in ice-covered regions and glaciers (64°N- 65°N). Very low values (0 to -20) show desertification and mountainous rocks. Moderate values (20-40) indicate healthy vegetation. The most frequent data: -28,17 to 11,8. The EVI shows data variations (-0.14 to 0.04). The study contributes both to the regional studies of Arctic Iceland and methodological approach of remote sensing data processing by SAGA GIS.