Assessing vegetation condition across topography in Nainital district, India using temperature vegetation dryness index model

Climate variability induced changes in rainfall and temperature have degraded the health of vegetation across the world. Thus, monitoring of vegetation condition is essential for maintaining ecosystem health, climate sustainability and biodiversity. This article examines vegetation condition in Nainital district located in Kumaon foothills in India during 1991-2019. We utilized satellite data-based temperature vegetation dryness index (TVDI) model for assessing vegetation condition. Surface moisture index and bare soil index were used for validating TVDI. Findings revealed an increasing trend in land surface temperature and decreasing trend in surface moisture content. It was also found that area under bare soil has increased considerably indicating decrease in vegetation cover. Marked variations in vegetation condition were observed during the study period due to varied topography, direction and gradient of slope and variation in rainfall. TVDI has proved to be effective tool for assessing vegetation condition. Future studies in different geographical regions may find this assessment approach useful.