Teak plantation phenology changes and its relationships to climate variability in Lampang Province, North Thailand Phan Kieu Diem1*, Amnat Chidthaisong1, Uday Pimple1, Asamaporn Sitthi1, Pariwate Varnakovida1, Katsunori Tanaka2; and Rungnapa Kaewthongrach1 1The Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, 126 Prachauthit Rd, Bangmod, Tungkru, Bangkok, Thailand 2Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Japan *Corresponding author: pkdiem@ctu.edu.vn Abstract-Vegetation phenology is sensitive to climate variability, and understanding changes in phenology are necessary to infer the response of forest towards climatic variability. In this study, time series of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) extracted from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) from 2009 to 2012 was used to investigate changes of teak plantation phenology in Lampang Province. The NDVI was validated by Leaf Area Index (LAI) and the negative logarithm of the ratio of daily downward solar radiation on the forest floor to that above the canopy (NLR). The results show that NDVI was significantly correlated with LAI (r=0.81), and NLR (r=0.77). Analysis from phenology metrics shows that length of growing season ranged between 264-324 days, starting from March to May and ending in January to March of the following year. In 2010, the starting of this growing season was delayed and the length of season was shorter than other years. NDVI was negatively correlated to maximum temperature (r=-0.85, p<0.0001), whereas positively correlated to precipitation (r=0.51, p<0.0001) during the period from April to May. During the end of season (October to December), NDVI had significant and positive relationship with minimum temperature and precipitation (r=0.81, r= 0.64), respectively. This study demonstrates that NDVI extracted from satellite is able to capture the teak plantation phenology and provide spatial and temporal information for long term monitoring. The significant correlation between NDVI and climate factors in this study implies that future variability in meteorological variables under climate change would affect the forest ecosystem. Keywords: climate variability, phenology, teak plantation, NDVI I. INTRODUCTION Teak is one of the most well known timbers of the world.Teak normally grows within a latitudinal range of 160 to 200N and a longitudinal range of 970 to 1010E. Teak 274 Proceedings of the International Conference on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Policy and Practice 27-29 June 2016, Cha-am, Phetchaburi, Thailand
Proceedings of International Conference on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the Sustainable Development Goals : Policy and Practice 27-29 June 2016 at the Sirindhorn International Environmental Park, Cha-am, Phetchaburi, Thailand
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