The Use of Remotely Sensed Data for Analysis of the Influence of the Urban Environment on the Seasonal Growth of Arboreal Vegetation

Abstract

The aim of this study was the analysis of the peculiarities of the growth of oak and pine stands in the city of Ufa and its suburbs in the spring by using visual monitoring of the development of leaves of the crown, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and thermal satellite channels in the spectral range of 10.4–12.5 microns. Analysis of cloudless Sentinel-2, Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 images and the ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model Version 2 (GDEM V2) was used. It was found that the oak and pine stands had faster seasonal growth within the urban area than outside the city. It was impossible to fully capture the average daily differences between various areas, including the temperature differences between day-time and night-time temperatures, through the thermal satellite channels. Yet, some temperature differences between various areas can be estimated by using thermal satellite channels.