Spatiotemporal study of exiting vegetation in the Atacama Region and its relationship with Flowering Desert
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21138/GF.722Abstract
In the Atacama Region, Chile, a phenomenon known as the "flowering desert" (or “desert bloom”) occurs, which is the result of infrequent precipitation events that regulate the amount of existing biota. In this context, this study graphs the spatial and temporal distribution of vegetation in the Region from 2000 to 2017. Vegetation areas have been determined using the MOD13Qproduct derived from the MODIS sensor. This product uses the NDVI factor, which detects vegetation vigor. For the analysis, the ArcPy library written in Python was used. Later graphs of the NDVI factor were generate, in addition to annual vegetation density maps of the vegetal cover. The results showed that 2017 was a year with 8 % more vegetation compared to 2015, being those years among the ones with larger vegetation cover according to Chilean Corporación Nacional Forestal (CONAF). The maximum NDVI factor was concentrated in 2017, making this year the one with the highest amount of concentrated vegetation in the last 18 years. This amount of vegetation is increased between May to July mainly due to the presence of flowering related to the Flowering Desert which triples the surface of vegetation. This higher concentration of vegetation would not have been possible without the abundant rainfall that occurred during May of 2017.
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