Impact of Hydro-Climatic Changes on Coastal Dunes Landscape According to Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (The Case Study of Curonian Spit)

Abstract

Coastal dunes are recognized as one of the most threatened ecosystems, the formation of which mainly depends on two opposite processes—sand dunes overgrowth and formation of open dunes. The application of cost-effective remote sensing methods permits monitoring the interaction of these two processes over a large area and long periods of time. Therefore in this study we assessed the links between hydro-meteorological parameters and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in Curonian spit coastal dunes landscape-a creation of human and nature integrity situated in the South eastern part of the Baltic Sea. Time series of NDVI (2000–2019) were obtained from the moderate resolution imaging spectro-radiometer and compared with hydro-meteorological parameters in three different ecosystems—forest, herbaceous and open sands. Moderate and strong positive correlation between NDVI and average wind speed was detected in non-forested ecosystems. Moderate positive correlation was detected between NDVI and the Baltic sea water level in all three analyzed ecosystems. Moderate positive correlation between NDVI and air temperature was found in forest ecosystem. This confirms that NDVI could be treated as an appropriate indicator, showing the interaction of coastal dunes overgrowth and formation of open dunes, and could be applied in its management that should be reconsidered under nowadays climate change.