Chart – trendlines – slope – NDVI – visibleInLegend: true – GEE

Unlocking Nature’s Secrets: How to Read Vegetation with Google Earth Engine

Ever wondered how healthy our planet’s greenery really is? Turns out, there’s a pretty neat way to check, using something called the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, or NDVI for short. Think of it as a vital sign for plants, and Google Earth Engine (GEE) is the doctor’s high-tech stethoscope. GEE lets you crunch massive amounts of satellite data, giving us an unprecedented look at vegetation health across vast areas. Let’s dive into how we can use GEE to really understand what NDVI is telling us.

NDVI: More Than Just Numbers

So, what exactly is NDVI? It’s all about light – specifically, how plants reflect different types of light. Healthy plants are greedy for red light (they absorb it for photosynthesis) and bounce back a lot of near-infrared light. NDVI takes advantage of this. The formula is simple: