Spatial and temporal variability of vegetation status in Paraíba, Northeastern Brazil

Desertification is a serious problem in northeastern Brazil and the land degradation process needs to be understood in order to develop a sustainable land use. This study considers the aspect of spatial and temporal vegetation variability in the state of Paraíba. A ten year time period of the enhanced vegetation index (EVI) from MODIS satellite data with a high temporal resolution (16 days) and medium spatial resolution (250 m) was analyzed. In addition, a ten year EVI time series with monthly time intervals and 1 km spatial resolution was correlated with a precipitation time series. Vegetation in Paraíba is characterized by a high variability of greenness on the intra-annual and inter-annual level as well as on the spatial dimension. The highest correlation between EVI and precipitation is achieved for a time lag of 1 month (regional R= 0.64).