Reconstructing pathfinder AVHRR land NDVI time-series data for the Northwest of China Original Research Article

Vegetation typically elicits dynamics at the seasonal and annual level. Time-series of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) datasets, such as the pathfinder AVHRR land (PAL) NDVI dataset, have proven to be appropriate for the detection of long-term vegetation cover changes. It has been applied in modelling experiments for terrestrial ecosystems at the global, continental, and regional scales. But some PAL NDVI time series remain significant residual effects and noise levels. A simple method, the mean-value iteration filter (MVI), has been developed to reduce the noise and to enable the reconstruction of high quality NDVI time-series. A comparison between the newly developed method and other existing methods (the modified BISE algorithm and a fast Fourier transform algorithm) indicates that the newly developed method is an effective tool for reconstructing high-quality time series of PAL NDVI time series.