From Lakes to Plants: Spatial Assessment of Vegetation Dynamics Along 52 Disappearing Lakes in the Boreal Forests of Alaska from 1984-2009 in the Yukon Flats Wildlife Refuge

• Main Author: Ewest, Steve
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Digital Commons @ DU 2011
• Subjects: Spatial assessment of vegetation change; Landsat TM/ETM imagery; Geography and the Environment; College of Natual Science and Mathematics; Geography; Physical and Environmental Geography; Spatial Science; Yukon; Alaska
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/geog_ms_capstone/12; https://digitalcommons.du.edu/context/geog_ms_capstone/article/1011/viewcontent/Ewest_Steve_Capstone_online_MSGISc.pdf

A spatial assessment of vegetation change along the areas of shrinking lakes was conducted in 2011. The analysis utilized Landsat TM/ETM imagery bands 3 and 4 to calculate NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) from 1984 to 2009 and applied cell and zonal statistics to measure the change as well as create an animation of the change. Also, three 30 meter bands and the zonal averages for the maximum values were assessed. The band in the 60-90 buffer bands has the greatest ratio amount of the maximum vegetation values when compared to the 0-30 meter and the 30-60 meter buffered bands. Additionally, there appears to be slight trends towards higher maximum vegetation values when it in dryer, cooler and later season.