Overview | Earthquake | Drought | Fire | Flood & Cyclones | Landslide& Soil Erosion | Volcano
Manipulation of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for Delineating Drought Vulnerable Areas
5. Summary and Conclusions
NOAA AVHRR derived NDVI can give the picture of vegetation status on regular basis. Although spatial resolution of NOAA is coarse, yet, the onset of drought conditions for a large area in a given year can be predicted by comparative analysis of trend of derived NDVI of that year relative to the trend in a normal year. It is better to develop a multi date NDVI composite for the study area and consider it as a normal for comparison. This warning capability can allow mitigating the effects of droughts through an appropriate redistribution of food supplies for humans and foddering for livestock.
When looking in Pakistan scenario, solving the problem of emergence of drought risk in Sindh and Balochistan areas needs a Permanent GIS Based Drought Forecasting System for the estimation of the complete area that is at risk along with calculation of other factors that are used for vulnerability analysis. This area estimation and analysis will certainly aid in taking such measures that will be useful for the people living in risk area. Moreover, it will provide the demarcation of those areas that may be at drought risk in near future.
The cost of reception and use of NOAA data is low. Thus, for a developing country like Pakistan, application of NOAA derived NDVI data may well represent a low-cost means of developing local expertise in the use of Earth observation systems for resource management and disaster mitigation.
The integration of satellite derived information with other layers including climate, soil type, hydrology and socioeconomic condition of people would be the next requirement. This multidisciplinary information can be effectively and accurately handled with GIS. Spatial analysis in GIS can lead to a decision support system for the concerned government departments, NGO’s and others to help drought vulnerable people and others living in potential drought areas.
Acknowledgments
Many thanks and gratitude to Dr. Najma Najam, Dr. Uzaira Rafique (FJWU, Rawalpindi), Dr. Abdul Raouf (SUPARCO, Islamabad), Mr. Anjum Bari Farooqi (PMD, Islamabad), Dr. Rakhshan Roohi (NARC, Islamabad) and the staff members of these departments for providing the data required for the present research.