The African continent is facing one of the driest periods in the past three decades as well as continued deforestation. These disturbances threaten vegetation carbon (C) stocks and highlight the need for improved capabilities of monitoring large-scale aboveground carbon stock dynamics. Here we use a satellite dataset based on vegetation optical depth derived from low-frequency passive microwaves (

The alternating between dry and wet seasons and the consecutive microbial responses to soil water content in semiarid ecosystems has significant consequences on nitrogen exchanges with the atmosphere. Three field campaigns were carried out in a semi arid sahelian rangeland in Dahra (Ferlo, Senegal), two at the beginning of the wet season in July 2012 and July 2013, and the third one in November 20

The variables of snow cover extent (SCE), snow cover duration (SCD), and snow albedo (SAL) are primary factors determining the surface energy balance and hydrological response of the cryosphere, influencing snow pack and glacier mass-balance, melt, and runoff conditions. This study examines spatiotemporal patterns and trends in SCE, SCD, and SAL (2000–2016; 16 years) for central Chilean and Argent

From in situ measured woody cover we develop a phenology driven model to estimate the canopy cover of woody species in the Sahelian drylands at 1km scale. The model estimates the total canopy cover of all woody phanerophytes and the concept is based on the significant difference in phenophases of dryland trees, shrubs and bushes as compared to that of the herbaceous plants. Whereas annual herbaceo

Monitoring long-term biomass dynamics in drylands is of great importance for many environmental applications including land degradation and global carbon cycle modeling. Biomass has extensively been estimated based on the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) as a measure of the vegetation greenness. The vegetation optical depth (VOD) derived from satellite passive microwave observations i

Woody plants play a major role for the resilience of drylands and in peoples' livelihoods. However, due to their scattered distribution, quantifying and monitoring woody cover over space and time is challenging. We develop a phenology driven model and train/validate MODIS (MCD43A4, 500 m) derived metrics with 178 ground observations from Niger, Senegal and Mali to estimate woody cover trends from

Aim: To evaluate trend analysis of earth observation (EO) dense time series as a new way of describing and mapping changes in ecosystem functioning at regional to global scales. Spatio-temporal patterns of change covering 1982-2011 are discussed in the context of changes in land use and land cover (LULCC). Location: Global. Methods: This study takes advantage of the different phenological cycles o

This chapter summarizes approaches to the detection of dryland vegetation change and methods for observing spatio-temporal trends from space. An overview of suitable long-term Earth Observation (EO) based datasets for assessment of global dryland vegetation trends is provided and a status map of contemporary greening and browning trends for global drylands is presented. The vegetation metrics suit

This chapter summarizes methods of inferring information about drivers of global dryland vegetation changes observed from remote sensing time series data covering from the 1980s until present time. Earth observation (EO) based time series of vegetation metrics, sea surface temperature (SST) (both from the AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) series of instruments) and precipitation dat

The co-existence of trees and grasses is a defining feature of savannah ecosystems and landscapes. During recent decades, the combined effect of climate change and increased demographic pressure has led to complex vegetation changes in these ecosystems. A number of recent Earth observation (EO)-based studies reported positive changes in biological productivity in the Sahelian region in relation to

This paper presents the Dahra field spectrometer system (DAFIS) sited in Senegal, West Africa. DAFIS is a unique system that automatically measures the spectro-directional reflectance properties of a semi-arid savanna in the spectral range of 350-1800. nm, daily from sunrise to sunset. The instrumental setup allows studying surface anisotropy for different phenological phases. First data retrieved

As a way to understand vegetation changes, trend analysis on NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) time series data have been widely performed at regional to global scales. However, most long-term NDVI datasets are based upon multiple sensor systems and unsuccessful corrections related to sensor shifts potentially introduce substantial uncertainties and artifacts in the analysis of trends.