MODIS-derived visible atmospherically resistant index for monitoring chaparral moisture content

Time series of normalized difference indices (NDIs) derived from MODIS surface reflectance data provide potentially useful information for monitoring fuel moisture content ( MC) for fire risk assessment. The visible atmospherically resistant index (VARI) and normalized difference water index (NDWI) were compared for monitoring live FMC of chaparral shrublands. Regression coefficients are encouraging given disparate spatial resolutions of ground-based FMC measurements and MODIS-derived NDIs. VARI exhibited greater temporal co-variability (0.79 > r(2) < 0.94) and spatial robustness with FMC than NDWI, even though the former is based solely on visible waveband reflectance data.