Remote Sensing Phenology
Tracking the Seasons from Space
Methods, Metrics and Challenges of Study by Satellite
Methods, Metrics and Challenges of Study by Satellite
EROS Phenocam
Remote Sensing Phenology
Phenology is the study of plant and animal life cycles in relation to the seasons. EROS maintains a set of nine annual phenological metrics for the conterminous United States, all curated from satellite data. Taken together, the metrics represent a powerful tool for documenting life cycle trends and the impacts of climate change on ecosystems.
Learn More
Learn More
Remote Sensing Phenology uses satellites to track seasonal changes in vegetation on regional, continental, and global scales.
Get Data
Get Data
Historical remote sensing phenology (RSP) image data and graphics for the conterminous U.S. are made freely available from the USGS/EROS Center.
Other Resources
Other Resources
Here are web resources that provide information about phenology, both ground-based and via remote sensing
News
Remote Sensing Phenology Metrics for 2023 Released
Remote Sensing Phenology Metrics for 2023 Released
Remote Sensing Phenology Metrics for 2022 Released
Remote Sensing Phenology Metrics for 2022 Released
Remote Sensing Phenology Metrics for 2021 Released
Remote Sensing Phenology Metrics for 2021 Released
Publications
Temporal greenness trends in stable natural land cover and relationships with climatic variability across the conterminous United States
Assessment of temporal trends in vegetation greenness and related influences aids understanding of recent change in terrestrial ecosystems and feedbacks from weather, climate, and environment. We analyzed 1-km normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) timeseries data (1989–2016) derived from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and developed growing season time-integrated NDVI
Exploring VIIRS continuity with MODIS in an expedited capability for monitoring drought-related vegetation conditions
Vegetation has been effectively monitored using remote sensing time-series vegetation index (VI) data for several decades. Drought monitoring has been a common application with algorithms tuned to capturing anomalous temporal and spatial vegetation patterns. Drought stress models, such as the Vegetation Drought Response Index (VegDRI), often use VIs like the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index
Exploring relationships of spring green-up to moisture and temperature across Wyoming, U.S.A
Vegetation green-up signals the timing of available nutritious plants and shrubs providing high-quality forage for ungulates. In this study, we characterized spatial and temporal patterns of spring phenology and explored how they were related to preceding temperature and moisture conditions. We tested correlations between late winter weather and indicators of the onset and the length of the spring
Science
Spring Arriving at EROS
Temperatures are slowly getting warmer and it looks like our long winter is coming to an end. Volunteers at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center will soon mobilize to monitor and observe the timing of nature's calendar (events like bud burst, flowering, and leaf drop) in conjunction with the USA National Phenology Network. This seasonal activity...
EROS Phenocam - Live
In September 2014, the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center established a near-ground automated digital camera and joined over 100 other core sites in the PhenoCam Network. Following the protocols of the network, the USGS-EROS camera regularly captures digital imagery and data used to better understand vegetation cycles. As part of a scientific network of automated cameras...
Validation
Documenting the effectiveness of the phenology metrics is difficult given the current scarcity of ground verification data at the appropriate scale (i.e., vegetation-canopy phenology). However, current efforts by the National Phenology Network to build and organize ground observation databases will go far toward addressing these shortcomings. In the meantime, two examples of coincident ground...