Correlation analysis of NDVI dynamics and hydro-meteorological variables in growth period for four land use types of a water scarce area

As the characterization of primary productivity of wetland ecosystem, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) plays an important role in local ecosystem conservation for environmental management. In this paper, the correlations of NDVI and hydro-meteorological variables were studied in a water scarce area with emphasis on different land use types, namely water, wetland, residential land and farmland, during the growing seasons of 1999 and 2000. The significant NDVI changes were detected between spring and summer for all land use types. The correlation analysis revealed that the NDVI-temperature correlation (P < 0.001) was stronger than NDVI-precipitation correlation (P < 0.01 for farmland and P < 0.05 for others) in all land use types. In addition, water level had no significant correlation with NDVI at such a small time scale. The sensitivity differences in different land use types based on the determination coefficient of the linear regression models are: R-farmland > R-wetland > R-residential land > R-water for NDVI and precipitation correlations (P < 0.05); and R-water > R-wetland > R-residential land > R-farmland for NDVI and temperature correlations (P < 0.001). The results would be valuable for the understandings of effects of hydro-meteorological variables on NDVI changes, as well as the potential effect on land use and land cover.