Interpreting vegetation indices

Remotely sensed spectral vegetation indices are widely used and have benefited numerous disciplines interested in the assessment of biomass, water use, plant stress, plant health and crop production. The successful use of these indices requires knowledge of the units of the input variables used to form the indices, and an understanding of the manner in which the external environment and the architectural aspects of a vegetation canopy influence and alter the computed index values. Although vegetation indices were developed to extract the plant signal only, the soil background, moisture condition, solar zenith angle, view angle, as well as the atmosphere, alter the index values in complex ways. The nature of these problems are explored both in an empirical and in a theoretical sense, and suggestions are offered for the effective use and interpretation of vegetation indices.