Recent trends in vegetation dynamics in the African Sahel and their relationship to climate

Stefanie M. Herrmann; Assaf Anyamba; Compton J. Tucker

doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2005.08.004

Recent trends in vegetation dynamics in the African Sahel and their relationship to climate

Stefanie M. Herrmann, Assaf Anyamba, Compton J. Tucker

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

695 Scopus citations

Abstract

Contrary to assertions of widespread irreversible desertification in the African Sahel, a recent increase in seasonal greenness over large areas of the Sahel has been observed, which has been interpreted as a recovery from the great Sahelian droughts. This research investigates temporal and spatial patterns of vegetation greenness and rainfall variability in the African Sahel and their interrelationships based on analyses of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series for the period 1982-2003 and gridded satellite rainfall estimates. While rainfall emerges as the dominant causative factor for the increase in vegetation greenness, there is evidence of another causative factor, hypothetically a human-induced change superimposed on the climate trend.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	394-404
Number of pages	11
Journal	Global Environmental Change
Volume	15
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2005.08.004
State	Published - Dec 2005
Externally published	Yes

Funding

The GPCP combined precipitation data were developed and computed by the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center's Laboratory for Atmospheres as a contribution to the GEWEX Global Precipitation Climatology Project. The TRMM 3B43 algorithm was developed by the TRMM Science Team. Data were processed by the TRMM Science Data and Information System (TSDIS) and the TRMM Office; they are archived and distributed by the Goddard Distribution Active Archive Center. TRMM is an international project jointly sponsored by the Japan National Space Development Agency (NASDA) and the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Office of Earth Sciences. Funding for this research was provided through the NASA Graduate Student Summer Program hosted by Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology Center. We would like to thank Henry David Snyder, Jorge Pinzon, Molly Brown and Daniel Slayback for their assistance with the data processing.

Funders	Funder number
Japan National Space Development Agency
NASDA
Office of Earth Sciences
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Keywords

Desertification
Greening
Remote sensing
Sahel
Time series analysis

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10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2005.08.004

Cite this

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abstract = "Contrary to assertions of widespread irreversible desertification in the African Sahel, a recent increase in seasonal greenness over large areas of the Sahel has been observed, which has been interpreted as a recovery from the great Sahelian droughts. This research investigates temporal and spatial patterns of vegetation greenness and rainfall variability in the African Sahel and their interrelationships based on analyses of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series for the period 1982-2003 and gridded satellite rainfall estimates. While rainfall emerges as the dominant causative factor for the increase in vegetation greenness, there is evidence of another causative factor, hypothetically a human-induced change superimposed on the climate trend.",

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AU - Anyamba, Assaf

AU - Tucker, Compton J.

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N2 - Contrary to assertions of widespread irreversible desertification in the African Sahel, a recent increase in seasonal greenness over large areas of the Sahel has been observed, which has been interpreted as a recovery from the great Sahelian droughts. This research investigates temporal and spatial patterns of vegetation greenness and rainfall variability in the African Sahel and their interrelationships based on analyses of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series for the period 1982-2003 and gridded satellite rainfall estimates. While rainfall emerges as the dominant causative factor for the increase in vegetation greenness, there is evidence of another causative factor, hypothetically a human-induced change superimposed on the climate trend.

AB - Contrary to assertions of widespread irreversible desertification in the African Sahel, a recent increase in seasonal greenness over large areas of the Sahel has been observed, which has been interpreted as a recovery from the great Sahelian droughts. This research investigates temporal and spatial patterns of vegetation greenness and rainfall variability in the African Sahel and their interrelationships based on analyses of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series for the period 1982-2003 and gridded satellite rainfall estimates. While rainfall emerges as the dominant causative factor for the increase in vegetation greenness, there is evidence of another causative factor, hypothetically a human-induced change superimposed on the climate trend.

KW - Desertification

KW - Greening

KW - Remote sensing

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KW - Time series analysis

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Recent trends in vegetation dynamics in the African Sahel and their relationship to climate

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

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