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Chinese Agricultural Science Bulletin ›› 2026, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (2): 163-170.doi: 10.11924/j.issn.1000-6850.casb2025-0853

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Drought Monitoring of Vegetation Based on Solar-induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence: A Case Study of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

ZHANG Lanbiao1(), YANG Liping1, ZHANG Lanjing2(), LI Bin1, ZHANG Yiyao1, DONG Jing2   

  1. 1 Ecological and Agricultural Meteorological Center of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Hohhot 010051
    2 Hohhot Meteorological Bureau, Hohhot 010010
  • Received:2025-10-10 Revised:2025-12-26 Online:2026-01-25 Published:2026-01-22

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to explore the feasibility and advantages of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) in monitoring vegetation drought in forest and grassland ecosystems. A fluorescence health index (SHI) based on GOSIF (SIF product ) data was constructed and compared with vegetation health index (VHI) and meteorological drought index SPEI. Results showed that in 57% of the months, the correlation coefficient between SHI and SPEI was higher than that between VHI and SPEI, indicating that SHI was more responsive and sensitive to drought events. SHI showed a significant decreasing trend at annual and seasonal (spring, summer, autumn) scales, reflecting the overall alleviation of vegetation drought conditions during the study period. The spatial distribution pattern showed a “widespread drought in the west, less severe in the east”, with particularly significant changes in the northeast, southeast, and central-west of the region, demonstrating distinct regional differences. Overall, SHI based on SIF can more sensitively reflect changes in vegetation under drought stress, serving as an important supplement or improvement to the traditional VHI. The application of SHI in Inner Mongolia can improve the accuracy and timeliness of drought monitoring, providing a new remote sensing technology path for drought monitoring, risk assessment, and decision-making in ecologically vulnerable areas. This method has the potential to be extended to other regions or a global drought remote sensing monitoring system.

Key words: solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence, vegetation drought, SHI index, remote sensing monitoring, Inner Mongolia