Detection of phenological change in cultivated and uncultivated vegetation with multispectral video

Abstract

Multispectral video (MSV) images were used to measure phenological changes in cultivated and uncultivated vegetation communities surrounding the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station (PVNGS). Multispectral video imagery was acquired from aircraft on seven dates between the middle of June and the end of September, 1986. Images representing three sites near the PVNGS were selected to calculate Ratio Vegetation Index (RVI) values for seven surface cover types. Mean RVI values were tested sequentially for change, plotted as a function of time, and then compared to a moisture index and the crop calendar. MSV detected changes in cultivated vegetation corresponding to the crop calendar. Changes in natural vegetation and the non-vegetated cover types were also detected, but did not correlate to the moisture index. There is insufficient evidence to determine if detected changes in uncultivated vegetation were the result of phenological changes or electronic noise.