Spatio-Temporal Variability in Remotely Sensed Vegetation Greenness Across Yellowstone National Park

A pronounced climate change signal in Yellowstone National Park, marked by substantial warming, declining snowpack, and increased drought frequency, significantly impacts vegetation greenness and productivity. The study reveals that green-up is highly sensitive to elevation and climate, with La Niña-induced conditions or deep snowpack delaying this phenological stage. Drought patterns also play a crucial role, enhancing greening during winter-spring droughts but reducing it in spring-summer droughts. While the park shows overall positive productivity trends due to post-fire lodgepole pine recovery, undisturbed areas exhibit no warming-induced greening. The research leverages remotely sensed data from AVHRR and MODIS, along with Daymet climate data, to analyze spatio-temporal variability in vegetation indices over 1982–2015, providing insights for ecological vulnerability assessments and climate adaptation strategies.

Notaro, M., Emmett, K., & O’Leary, D. (2019). Spatio-Temporal Variability in Remotely Sensed Vegetation Greenness Across Yellowstone National Park. Remote Sensing, 11(7), 798. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11070798