Comparative analysis of the multispectral vegetation indices and the radar vegetation index

Abstract

RVI (Radar Vegetation Index) has shown some promise in the vegetation fields, but its relationship with MVI (Multispectral Vegetation Index) is not known in the context of various land covers. Presented herein is a comparative analysis of the MVI values derived from the LANDSAT-8 and RVI values originating from the RADARSAT-2 quad-polarimetric SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) data. Among the various multispectral vegetation indices, NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and SAVI (Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index) were used for comparison with RVI. Four land covers (urban, forest, water, and paddy field) were compared, and the patterns were investigated. The experiment results demonstrated that the RVI patterns of the four land covers are very similar to those of NDVI and SAVI. Thus, during bad weather conditions and at night, the RVI data could serve as an alternative to the MVI data in various application fields.