Near-real-time vegetation monitoring and historical database (1981–present) for the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands

Abstract. Systematic monitoring and assessment of vegetation dynamics and changes are essential for informing environmental management and conservation strategies. Addressing this need, our study introduces a pioneering procedure to generate a database of vegetation indices that provides semi-monthly updates from 1981 to the present at a 1.1 km spatial resolution, focusing on the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands. This database enables near-real-time monitoring and analysis of vegetation anomalies. The methodology developed combines harmonized historical satellite imagery from AVHRR, MODIS, and VIIRS sensors. The database's performance was assessed, demonstrating highly accurate and consistent harmonization of NDVI data over time. Notably, the database is adept at identifying temporal variability and trends in vegetation activity and detecting disturbances caused by fire and other phenomena. This work not only advances our understanding of vegetation dynamics in the region but also serves as a crucial tool for policymakers, environmental managers, and agricultural stakeholders. By providing near-real-time updates and using indices to monitor vegetation anomalies, the data allows for comparisons across seasons and vegetation types. The database, which includes the NDVI and kNDVI vegetation indices as well as their standardized versions, SNDVI and SkNDVI, is accessible via https://doi.org/10.20350/digitalCSIC/16201 (Franquesa et al., 2024).