Intra-annual variations of vegetation status in a sub-tropical deciduous forest-dominated area using geospatial approach: a case study of Sali watershed, Bankura, West Bengal, India

Abstract

Intra-annual dynamics of vegetation status is very important to understand the spatial ecological environment. In this study, pixel wise temporal variation of vegetation status has been assessed using normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI) from Landsat 8 OLI data of 2014. Month-wise vegetation statuses were employed to understand the status of vegetation dynamics for the Sali River watershed. We have found that vegetation status (VS) of this study area varied with respect to space and time. We have identified two dominant natures of NDVI fluctuation, one with a single peak coming out of Sal forest and another with multiple peaks which is from paddy fields. NDVI curve of natural vegetation follows a rainfall pattern and depicts a single peak during the rainy season with the moderate standard deviation (S.D.) and coefficient of variation (C.V.). On the other hand, the area associated with population pressure and agricultural fields shows multiple peaks as well as a high degree of S.D. and C.V. of NDVI during the months of April, August and December.