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Normalized Difference Vegetation Index Satellite Information and Deforestation Influence on Global Food Security

Undergraduate #117
Discipline: Technology and Engineering
Subcategory: Geosciences and Earth Sciences

Timothy Medina - CUNY New York City College of Technology
Co-Author(s): Tarendra Lakhankar, The City College of City University, New York



Climate change and a growing population make food security intimidating and challenging to alleviate poverty and hunger. Advancements of remote sensing technology make cropland estimates possible at the global scale. Food yield is equal to the total crop harvest per unit cultivated area. During the elapsed time of germination and frequent harvesting, both human and climate related effects determine a country’s contribution towards global food security.
In this study, nine countries were selected to analyze food production along with their annual income per capita. Criteria to follow when choosing countries for research include total population, area, tropical conditions, and income. Both physical land cover and regional climate helped categorize potential parameters thought to be studied. Once selected, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data was collected for Ethiopia, Liberia, Indonesia, United States, Norway, Russia, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia over a 14-year time period for every 16 days starting from February 2000. Software programs such as ArcGIS, MatLab, and Excel were used to determine how population size, income, and deforestation directly determine agricultural yields.
To maintain supply and demand of agricultural products, forests are often cleared. Deforestation causes a reduction in soil quality, resulting in fertilizer to become a requirement for sufficient crop yields. These additives persuade an increase in product cost as an outcome.

The total area and vegetation index of each country is being studied, to determine income and the percentage of land used for crops and the percentage impacted by deforestation. By using NDVI results, a parameter will potentially be found that will help define an index, to create an equation that will determine a country’s annual income and ability to provide for their families and themselves.

Funder Acknowledgement(s): This project is supported by the National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates Grant # 1560050, under the direction of Dr. Reginald A. Blake, Dr. Janet Liou-Mark, and Ms. Laura Yuen-Lau. The authors are solely responsible for the content of this article, and it does not necessarily represent the views of the NSF or of NOAA-CREST.

Faculty Advisor: Tarendra Lakhankar, tlakhankar@ccny.cuny.edu

Role: During the duration of this project my role has been to consider possible parameters impacting crop yield. Identifying four parameters linked to deforestation, and assigned two for further studying. As well collecting satellite data for interpretation to determine deforestation?s impact on crop yield.

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant No. DUE-1930047. Any opinions, findings, interpretations, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of its authors and do not represent the views of the AAAS Board of Directors, the Council of AAAS, AAAS’ membership or the National Science Foundation.

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