THE NDVI INDEX CHANGE OF THE CARPATHIAN REGION OF UKRAINE DURING 2000-2022

Abstract

Systematic monitoring of the Carpathian region is necessary to preserve its unique natural resource potential. The NDVI index, or - Normalized Differential Vegetation Index, - is a convenient and informative indicator of the state of the vegetation cover, and is calculated on the basis of satellite data on the absorption and reflection of red and near-infrared radiation by the studied surface. To study the dynamics of vegetation index values and the state of the vegetation cover of the Carpathian region, images from the space projects Landsat 7 and 8 for the years 2000, 2013, 2020, 2021 and 2022 were downloaded and processed. The best indicator for analyzing changes in the state of vegetation cover in space and time is the integral index NDVImean. For 12 out of 15 processed images, the highest value of the integral index NDVImean=0.40-0.42 was found for polygon 1, which covers part of the Transcarpathian region. The lowest values of 0.13-0.16 were found for polygon 3, which covers parts of the Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Ternopil regions. The values of the areas covered with healthy or dense vegetation, for which NDVI˃0.33, were calculated. The maximum value of this indicator was 81.54% for polygon 1 in 2021, and the minimum was - 52.89% - for the polygon 3 in 2013. Keywords: Carpathian region; vegetation cover; vegetation index; multispectral analysis; raster; extent.