Estimating of above ground biomass of Haloxylon using sattelite based vegetation indices (Case study: Marak, Birjand)

Arid land degradation is the biggest environmental challenges in 21st century. Saxaul (Haloxylon spp) is one of the most important species for sand dunes fixation, widely used in reclamation of arid lands. One of the applications of satellite data is to estimate the biomass of plants. In this study, Landsat 8 satellite images were used for mapping the biomass of Haloxylon plants in the South Khorasan province. Then, 11 vvegetation indices (DVI, IPVI, NDVI, PVI, RVI, SAVI, TSAVI, WDVI, Brightness, Wetness, Greenness) were calculated. To determine the correlation between biomass and satellite data, 30 plots of 30*30 m 2 were used in the region and vegetation parameters were measured. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis were used to classify the indices. Finally, the effective indices were selected and the regression models were fitted. Results showed that the regression model obtained from the TSAVI index with RMSE of 14.9 and R 2 =0.43 had the best estimation for the above ground biomass of Haloxylon.