On the use of GIS in mapping spatio-temporal patterns of
environmetnal variability
Assaf Anyamba
Workshop abstract:
A fundamental problem in global environmental change studies is in the
understanding of spatio-temporal patterns of climate variability from time
series data. Climate variability occurs at a range of time scales and has
different effects over different areas. In order to be able to understand
these patterns of variation and their causal mechanisms requires techniques
that can decompose time series data into a limited and manageable number of
patterns of variability. This workshop will explore the use of a GIS
spatio-temporal procedure based on standardized principal components
analysis in the extraction of patterns of climate variability from
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series data set for
Africa. We shall illustrate how patterns of variation in NDVI on seasonal
to interannual time scale relate to meso-scale patterns of variation in the
atmosphere - ocean system. Information will be provided on how this
technique can be applied to other areas of the world that are sensitive to
interannual climate variability and in exploration of other problems
related to global environmental change.
The Clark Labs for Cartographic Technology and Geographic Analysis
Clark University, Worcester, MA 01610