Quantifying responses of climatic and anthropogenic factors on vegetation normalized difference vegetation index variabilities over Yellow River Basin, China

Both climatic and anthropogenic factors drove the vegetation growth. In the alpine source regions of the Yellow river, climatic factors were the primary drivers of significant NDVI change. In the MB_YRB (middle basin) and the LB_YRB (lower basin), human activities were the main factors driving vegetation greening. Only in areas with urban agglomeration, such as Xi'an, Zhengzhou and Xi'ning cities, were anthropogenic activities associated with vegetation browning.