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Relationship between herbicide concentration during the 1960s and 1970s and the contemporary MERIS Terrestrial Chlorophyll Index (MTCI) for southern Vietnam

Relationship between herbicide concentration during the 1960s and 1970s and the contemporary MERIS Terrestrial Chlorophyll Index (MTCI) for southern Vietnam
Relationship between herbicide concentration during the 1960s and 1970s and the contemporary MERIS Terrestrial Chlorophyll Index (MTCI) for southern Vietnam
Large concentrations of herbicide were sprayed onto the forests of southern Vietnam in the 1960s and early 1970s. Over 30 years later, many of these contaminated forests have regained full canopy cover, albeit with reduced chlorophyll content. The European Space Agency produces an operational product for the estimation of terrestrial chlorophyll content over large areas of terrain. This product uses data recorded by the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) on Envisat and is called the MERIS Terrestrial Chlorophyll Index (MERIS). The relationship between historical levels of herbicide contamination and contemporary MTCI was strong (R50.86) and negative, with high levels of herbicide contamination being associated (via low levels of chlorophyll concentration) with low levels of MTCI. This is the first published study to demonstrate a relationship between MTCI and a surrogate for chlorophyll content. The next stage of this research is to build on the strength ofthis relationship and use contemporary MTCI to estimate historical herbicide levels during the 1960s and 1970s across southern Vietnam.
MERIS, Agent Orange, MTCI, Vegetation condition
929-939
Dash, J.
51468afb-3d56-4d3a-aace-736b63e9fac8
Curran, P.J.
3f5c1422-c154-4533-9c84-f2afb77df2de
Dash, J.
51468afb-3d56-4d3a-aace-736b63e9fac8
Curran, P.J.
3f5c1422-c154-4533-9c84-f2afb77df2de

Dash, J. and Curran, P.J. (2006) Relationship between herbicide concentration during the 1960s and 1970s and the contemporary MERIS Terrestrial Chlorophyll Index (MTCI) for southern Vietnam. International Journal of Geographical Information Sciences, 20 (8), 929-939. (doi:10.1080/13658810600816805).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Large concentrations of herbicide were sprayed onto the forests of southern Vietnam in the 1960s and early 1970s. Over 30 years later, many of these contaminated forests have regained full canopy cover, albeit with reduced chlorophyll content. The European Space Agency produces an operational product for the estimation of terrestrial chlorophyll content over large areas of terrain. This product uses data recorded by the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) on Envisat and is called the MERIS Terrestrial Chlorophyll Index (MERIS). The relationship between historical levels of herbicide contamination and contemporary MTCI was strong (R50.86) and negative, with high levels of herbicide contamination being associated (via low levels of chlorophyll concentration) with low levels of MTCI. This is the first published study to demonstrate a relationship between MTCI and a surrogate for chlorophyll content. The next stage of this research is to build on the strength ofthis relationship and use contemporary MTCI to estimate historical herbicide levels during the 1960s and 1970s across southern Vietnam.

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More information

Published date: September 2006
Keywords: MERIS, Agent Orange, MTCI, Vegetation condition

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 38542
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/38542
PURE UUID: 99e10531-9769-403a-8560-ed926a8d704b
ORCID for J. Dash: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5444-2109

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Date deposited: 16 Jun 2006
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:35

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Contributors

Author: J. Dash ORCID iD
Author: P.J. Curran

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