Vegetation Indices - Default List
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index
Short Name: NDVI
Required Bands: Red, NIR
Description: NDVI measures the contrast between red light absorbed by chlorophyll and near-infrared light reflected by plant cell structures, indicating vegetation health and density.
Common Uses: Crop monitoring, drought assessment, land cover classification
Formula Diagram:
References:
- Tucker, C. J. (1979). Red and photographic infrared linear combinations for monitoring vegetation. Remote Sensing of Environment.
- Pettorelli, N. et al. (2005). Using the satellite-derived NDVI to assess ecological responses to environmental change. Trends in Ecology & Evolution.
- Jiang, Z. et al. (2006). Comparison of vegetation indices over a growing season. Remote Sensing of Environment.
Green-Red Vegetation Index
Short Name: GRVI
Required Bands: Green, Red
Description: GRVI emphasizes the difference between green reflectance (associated with healthy vegetation) and red reflectance (absorbed by chlorophyll), offering insights into plant vigor.
Common Uses: Crop vigor analysis, canopy health detection, visual greenness tracking
Formula Diagram:
References:
- Sripada, R. P. et al. (2006). Estimating nitrogen requirements in corn using aerial imagery. Agronomy Journal.
- Samborski, S. M. et al. (2009). Strategies to utilize plant sensors for crop nitrogen management: a review. Agronomy Journal.
- Xue, J., & Su, B. (2017). Significant remote sensing vegetation indices in precision agriculture. Remote Sensing.
Visible Atmospherically Resistant Index
Short Name: VARI
Required Bands: Red, Green, Blue
Description: VARI uses only visible bands to reduce atmospheric interference, making it useful for vegetation monitoring where near-infrared data is unavailable.
Common Uses: Vegetation detection in RGB drone imagery, urban green space analysis, leaf area estimation
Formula Diagram:
References:
- Gitelson, A. A. et al. (2002). Vegetation indices for green vegetation from red, green, and blue bands. Remote Sensing of Environment.
- Richardson, A. D. et al. (2007). Use of digital repeat photography to track canopy phenology. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology.
- Louhaichi, M. et al. (2001). A digital charting technique for monitoring rangeland vegetation cover. Journal of Arid Environments.
Green Leaf Index
Short Name: GLI
Required Bands: Red, Green, Blue
Description: GLI highlights green reflectance in vegetation by amplifying green over red and blue, allowing better differentiation of healthy leaves using only visible bands.
Common Uses: Monitoring leaf area index, urban tree canopy studies, vegetation segmentation in RGB imagery
Formula Diagram:
References:
- Louhaichi, M. et al. (2001). A digital charting technique for monitoring rangeland vegetation cover. Journal of Arid Environments.
- Tucker, C. J. (1979). Red and photographic infrared linear combinations for monitoring vegetation. Remote Sensing of Environment.
- Gitelson, A. A. et al. (2002). Vegetation indices derived from green, red, and blue bands. Remote Sensing of Environment.
Thermal Index
Short Name: Thermal
Required Bands: Thermal Infrared
Description: Thermal indices use land surface temperature as a proxy for vegetation stress, with higher temperatures indicating water deficiency or canopy thinning.
Common Uses: Irrigation scheduling, drought stress detection, evapotranspiration estimation
Formula Diagram:
References:
- Jackson, R. D. et al. (1981). Canopy temperature as a crop water stress indicator. Water Resources Research.
- Idso, S. B. (1982). Non-water-stressed baselines for interpreting plant water stress. Agricultural Meteorology.
- Moran, M. S. et al. (2009). Thermal infrared remote sensing for vegetation monitoring. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology.
Normalized Difference Red Edge Index
Short Name: NDRE
Required Bands: Red Edge, NIR
Description: NDRE improves on NDVI by using the red edge band instead of red, making it more sensitive to chlorophyll and biomass in mid-to-late stages of plant growth.
Common Uses: Nitrogen tracking, biomass monitoring, advanced crop health analysis
Formula Diagram:
References:
- Fitzgerald, G. J. et al. (2010). Measuring and predicting canopy nitrogen nutrition in wheat using NDRE. Precision Agriculture.
- Eitel, J. U. H. et al. (2011). Remote sensing of chlorophyll content using red-edge indices. Remote Sensing of Environment.
- Yao, H. et al. (2017). Estimating leaf nitrogen in rice with red-edge indices. Field Crops Research.
Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index
Short Name: SAVI
Required Bands: Red, NIR
Description: SAVI adjusts the NDVI formula to minimize soil brightness influences, especially in sparse vegetation areas by introducing a soil factor (L).
Common Uses: Crop monitoring in semi-arid areas, vegetation trend analysis, soil-vegetation studies
Formula Diagram:
References:
- Huete, A. R. (1988). A soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI). Remote Sensing of Environment.
- Qi, J. et al. (1994). A modified soil adjusted vegetation index (MSAVI). Remote Sensing of Environment.
- Bannari, A. et al. (1995). A review of vegetation indices in arid regions. Remote Sensing Reviews.
Optimized Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index
Short Name: OSAVI
Required Bands: Red, NIR
Description: OSAVI refines SAVI by using a fixed soil adjustment factor of 0.16 to improve performance across various soil conditions.
Common Uses: Vegetation stress assessment, sparse crop detection, arid land monitoring
Formula Diagram:
References:
- Rondeaux, G. et al. (1996). Optimization of soil-adjusted vegetation indices. Remote Sensing of Environment.
- Sims, D. A., & Gamon, J. A. (2002). Relationships between leaf pigment content and spectral reflectance. Remote Sensing of Environment.
- Li, F. et al. (2005). Evaluating OSAVI performance in semi-arid areas. Ecological Modelling.
Triangular Greenness Index
Short Name: TGI
Required Bands: Red, Green, Blue
Description: TGI calculates greenness based on the area of a triangle formed in RGB space, providing a non-NIR method to estimate chlorophyll content.
Common Uses: Chlorophyll detection, turfgrass monitoring, RGB drone analysis
Formula Diagram:
References:
- Hunt, E. R. et al. (2013). Remote sensing of canopy chlorophyll using the Triangular Greenness Index. Remote Sensing.
- Sims, D. A., & Gamon, J. A. (2002). Relationship of TGI to leaf pigment content. Remote Sensing of Environment.
- Babar, M. A. et al. (2006). Spectral indices as an indirect selection criterion for wheat chlorophyll. Crop Science.
Enhanced Normalized Difference Vegetation Index
Short Name: ENDVI
Required Bands: Blue, Green, NIR
Description: ENDVI improves on NDVI by incorporating blue and green reflectance, increasing sensitivity to chlorophyll content and enhancing vegetation analysis in variable light conditions.
Common Uses: Chlorophyll monitoring, improved greenness detection under shadows or haze, vegetation vitality mapping
Formula Diagram:
References:
- Hunt, E. R. et al. (2011). Enhanced NDVI for improved remote sensing of vegetation. Remote Sensing Letters.
- Sims, D. A., & Gamon, J. A. (2002). Relationships between leaf pigment content and spectral reflectance. Remote Sensing of Environment.
- Harris, A. (2008). Spectral reflectance and photosynthetic properties of vegetation. Ecological Applications.