Potential of high resolution RapidEye data for sparse vegetation fraction mapping in arid regions

RapidEye with its short revisit period and high spatial resolution provides a potential data source for monitoring vegetation fraction in arid regions. In this paper, we try to estimate the sparse vegetation fraction by using VI and MESMA (multiple end-member spectral mixture analysis methods, based on RapidEye data, field-measured spectral signatures and vegetation fraction data. The result shows that: 1) Compared with most commonly used NDVI, red-edge vegetation index is better for estimating the green vegetation fraction in arid regions; 2) MESMA performs much better than vegetation indices, based on which green and senescent vegetation fraction were acquired respectively, subsequently, the total vegetation fraction (green+senescent) has high consistency with field measured total vegetation abundance. In conclusion, Rapideye data with MESMA method provide a good choice for estimating sparse vegetation fraction in arid regions.