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Monitoring surface albedo change with Landsat
Author(s) -
Otterman J.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/gl004i010p00441
Subject(s) - albedo (alchemy) , exclosure , overgrazing , multispectral scanner , remote sensing , environmental science , vegetation (pathology) , multispectral image , debris , reflectivity , multispectral pattern recognition , atmospheric sciences , geology , meteorology , geography , ecology , grazing , medicine , art , paleontology , physics , herbivore , pathology , performance art , biology , optics , art history
A pronounced decrease of the surface albedo (reflectivity) has been observed in an area in the Northern Sinai, fenced‐in in the summer of 1974. Analysis of the LANDSAT Multispectral Scanner System digital data from an April 1977 pass indicates a reduction in the albedo in the exclosure by Δa = 0.06, or 13%, as compared to the outside, which continues to be subjected to overgrazing and anthropogenic pressures. The reduction of reflectivity is approximately the same in all the spectral bands, and is therefore attributable to accumulation of dead plants and plant debris, and not directly to live vegetation.