Evaluation of Droughts and Fires in the Dobrogea Region, Using Modis Satellite Data

Abstract

Drought is one of the most significant extreme event facing the world, affecting the society and the environment. Located in SE Romania, Dobrogea Region is characterized by a temperate climate with strong continental influences, being affected by drought episodes which cause significant damages and economic costs over extensive agricultural areas. Risk reduction, continuous vegetation monitoring, and management implementation are facilitated by complementary use of vegetation indices and biophysical parameters derived from satellite products (gridded data) within-situ data (point data). The paper focuses on:i) evaluating the extent and intensity of drought in Dobrogea, Romania, based on Normalized Difference Drought Index (NDDI) and Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR); ii) fires analysis, based on the Thermal Anomalies/Fire locations product (MCD14DL); iii)the correlation between the fires with the NDDI; iv) and the correlation between fires with the Land Surface Temperature (LST) product. The vegetation indices, biophysical parameters and fires are computed from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) daily and eight days’ synthesis products, during 22 th of March - 29 th of August 2000-2015. The results highlight the areas most affected by drought (moderate, severe and extreme) and fires in the Dobrogea.