Spatial distribution of pine forest vegetation index NDVI in the Lower Amur River region

Using data from the Terra-MODIS satellite system, technologies from the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Analytical GIS Eco program, changes in normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) of pine forests in the Lower Amur River region are shown. Main habitats of pine forests are located in the southwestern part of the region with the highest NDVI values: 0.76–0.87. The number of pine forests sharply decreases from west to east, from southwest to northeast and from south to north along with a decrease in their NDVI: 0.54–0.76. Division of the forests along slopes of different exposure demonstrates that the southern and western slopes have the highest average NDVI values. NDVI of the eastern and southern slopes are more sensitive to changes in geographical location. Weak trends of decreasing NDVI values with increasing altitude and slope steepness are revealed.