NDVI, Precipitation and Temperature Variations and Its Relationships with Different Grassland Types over 1982-2010 in Inner Mongolia

Based on vegetation maps of Inner Mongolia, GIMMS NDVI and NOAA/AVHRR normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data, and temperature and precipitation data from 47 meteorological stations, the study analyzes the temporal change of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for different grasslands and its correlation with climatic variables during the growing seasons (April-October) over the period of 1982-2010 in Inner Mongolia. The mean growing season NDVI did not change significantly. The average temperature conditions of all grassland types increased significantly, but the precipitation conditions of all vegetation types decreased slightly. It showed that both precipitation and temperature can affect NDVI, and the effect of precipitation seems more significant than that of temperature for growing season NDVI in Inner Mongolia.