Evaluation and Correlation of Normalized Vegetation Index and Moisture Index in Kyiv (2017–2021)

Abstract

For the last 20 years researchers have tried to create new approaches of managing urban ecosystem by using remote sensing methods. The authors estimated the normalized vegetation index (NDVI) and moisture index (NDMI) indices of Kyiv and propose an approach which can be used for estimation vegetation of other cities. The aim of the study was to assess the indicators of NDVI and NDMI in Kyiv for the last 5 years. The authors consider the NDVI index as an important ecostabilizing component of the urban ecosystem, as well as an indicator of the well-being citizens in a modern city. The study used space images of the Sentinel-2 satellite system with resolution of 10*10 m and 10*20 m. The images were decrypted using the Sentinel Hub platform which updates the database daily. The paper presents the results of correlation analysis using Statistica-6.0 software and demonstrate the close relationship (r = 0.73, r2 = 0.55) between NDVI and NDMI. Thus, the statistical results of the study confirm a strong correlation between photosynthetic activity of plants and indicators of their water content by satellite imagery which allows using modern satellite technologies to assess the functional state of the urban vegetation. The changes in the length of active vegetative growth period were identified by NDVI and NDMI. The results of the research expand the directions of the methods of monitoring the condition of the urban vegetation cover in the aspect of applied landscape research.

Keywords

• plants
• urban vegetation
• urban ecosystem
• space images