Monitoring Regional Vegetation Changes in Seward Peninsula, Alaska, Using Remote Sensing Technique

• Main Author: Ahn, Ji Young
• Other Authors: Kim, Jeong Woo
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Graduate Studies 2014
• Subjects: Remote Sensing; Engineering > Environmental; Vegetation; Arctic tundra; Arctic; Seward Peninsula; Tundra; Alaska
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11023/1483; https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/27001

Arctic vegetation has been undergoing various transitions depending on its regional characteristics and numerous contributors to these changes include direct human impact and natural changes in the earth’s climate system. The commonest causes of the vegetation change over a large arctic area are climatic. The Seward Peninsula in Alaska was reported diverse vegetation variations induced by possible climatic factors such as warming and drought conditions. Satellite observations have provided retrospective research on vegetation density patterns and changes over a long period in Arctic tundra environment. Landsat imagery has allowed documentation of spatial and temporal vegetation changes and investigation of the relationship to regional weather variations. Completed within this thesis are time-series NDVI maps of Council area in Seward Peninsula performed by both NDVI and change detection methods between 1999 and 2009. The study of vegetation change conducted here are important for monitoring the variations from the past to present and exploring the possible response to the annual weather changes.