Ethiopia: Seasonal Vegetation Health Index (June, July, August, & September)

These datasets provide Ethiopia’s Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) values for the past five years, specifically covering the June to September growing season. The VCI is a satellite-derived indicator used to evaluate vegetation health and drought conditions. It distinguishes drought-related stress from other factors affecting vegetation growth. The VCI values range from 0 to 100, where 0% indicates the worst vegetation condition—approaching the historical minimum and signifying severe drought—and 100% indicates optimal conditions, near the historical maximum, reflecting healthy and lush vegetation. The VCI data is obtained from the MODIS satellite. The long-term dataset used for seasonal analysis spans from the year 2000 to the present, focusing on the months of June through September, aligning with Ethiopia’s main growing season. These time series datasets enable the comparison of current vegetation conditions with those of recent growing seasons, supporting drought monitoring and vegetation health assessments.

These datasets provide Ethiopia’s Temperature Condition Index (TCI) values for the past five years, focusing specifically on the growing season (June–September). The Temperature Condition Index is a remote sensing-based indicator used to evaluate vegetation stress resulting from temperature extremes, primarily heat stress. TCI is calculated using Land Surface Temperature (LST) data sourced from the MODIS platform. Higher TCI values reflect cooler and more favorable conditions for plant growth, while lower values are associated with increased heat stress and potential vegetation damage. For long-term seasonal analysis, MODIS LST data from 2000 to the present were utilized, with an emphasis on the June–September period. These time series datasets highlight TCI values from the recent five growing seasons, enabling direct comparison with current year conditions.

NDVI Anomaly is a geospatial metric used to measure how current vegetation conditions deviate from what is considered "normal" or average for a specific location and time period. It helps identify abnormal vegetation growth, whether better or worse than expected, and is especially valuable in agriculture, drought monitoring, food security, and environmental management. The dataset used for this analysis is the MOD13Q1 V6.1 product, which provides a Vegetation Index (VI) value on a per-pixel basis. For this study, we used MODIS data from July for the past three years, along with historical data spanning from 2010 to 2020.

Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR) is a biophysical dimensionless quantity (its values range from 0/no absorption to 1/total absorption) used to assess the greenness and health of vegetation. FAPAR anomalies can be used as an indicator to detect and monitor the impacts of agricultural drought on the growth and productivity of vegetation. The data is presented in 10-day time composite of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS).

The NASA Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) Vegetation Index and Phenology (VIP) global datasets were created using surface reflectance data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) N07, N09, N11, and N14 datasets (1981 – 1999) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)/Terra MOD09 surface reflectance data (2000 - 2014). The VIP Vegetation Index (VI) product was developed to provide consistent measurements of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and modified Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI2) spanning more than 30 years of data from multiple sensors. The EVI2 is a backward extension of AVHRR. Vegetation indices such as NDVI and EVI2 are useful for assessing the biophysical properties of the land surface, and are used to characterize vegetation phenology. Phenology tracks the seasonal life cycle of vegetation, and provides information on the biotic response to environmental changes. The VIPPHEN data product is provided globally at 0.05 degree (5600 meter) spatial resolution in geographic (Lat/Lon) grid format. The data are stored in Hierarchical Data Format-Earth Observing System (HDF-EOS) file format. The VIPPHEN phenology product contains 26 Science Datasets (SDS) which include phenological metrics such as the start, peak, and end of season as well as the rate of greening and senescence. The product also provides the maximum, average, and background calculated VIs. The VIPPHEN SDS are based on the daily VIP product series and are calculated using a 3-year moving window average to smooth out noise in the data. A reliability SDS is included to provide context on the quality of the input data.

The NASA Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) Vegetation Index and Phenology (VIP) global datasets were created using surface reflectance data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) N07, N09, N11, and N14 datasets (1981 – 1999) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)/Terra MOD09 surface reflectance data (2000 - 2014). The VIP Vegetation Index (VI) product was developed to provide consistent measurements of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and modified Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI2) spanning more than 30 years of data from multiple sensors. The EVI2 is a backward extension of AVHRR. Vegetation indices such as NDVI and EVI2 are useful for assessing the biophysical properties of the land surface, and are used to characterize vegetation phenology. Phenology tracks the seasonal life cycle of vegetation, and provides information on the biotic response to environmental changes. The VIPPHEN data product is provided globally at 0.05 degree (5600 meters (m)) spatial resolution in geographic (Lat/Lon) grid format. The data are stored in Hierarchical Data Format-Earth Observing System (HDF-EOS) file format. The VIPPHEN phenology product contains 26 Science Datasets (SDS) which include phenological metrics such as the start, peak, and end of season as well as the rate of greening and senescence. The product also provides the maximum, average, and background calculated VIs. The VIPPHEN SDS are based on the daily VIP product series and are calculated using a 3-year moving window average to smooth out noise in the data. A reliability SDS is included to provide context on the quality of the input data.