NDVI / Greenness

The Sentinel GreenReport uses Sentinel-2 imagery to visualize NDVI and NDVI change over time. It consists of four map layers: 1) Greenness Map – represents NDVI, which is a surrogate for photosynthetically active plant biomass, for a user-defined composite period; 2) Difference Map 1 – compares NDVI to the immediately preceding composite period to illustrate recent vegetation change; 3) Difference Map 2 – compares NDVI to the same composite period from the previous year to show year-over-year vegetation change; 4) Difference Map 3 – compares current NDVI to the average NDVI from previous years to examine vegetation change relative to the recent average.

The Sentinel GreenReport uses Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, while the classic GreenReport uses MODIS satellite imagery. This difference means that the Sentinel GreenReport offers a much higher spatial resolution (10 meters) compared to the classic GreenReport (1,000 meters).

Additionally, Sentinel GreenReport’s earliest historical data starts in 2015, whereas the classic GreenReport historical data earliest historical data starts in 1989.