Publications

Zhao, CY; Chen, XD; Chen, SS; Han, B (2025). Asymmetric Response of Vegetation Greening near Tropic of Cancer in China to El Niño/Southern Oscillation. REMOTE SENSING, 17(6), 977.

Abstract
El Ni & ntilde;o/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) consistently modulates climate patterns in terrestrial ecosystems, triggering vegetation greening or browning. Although vegetation dynamics in the tropics during ENSO has been widely reported, the response of vegetation greening in the near-tropics to ENSO remains uncertain. Here, we explored vegetation greening near the Tropic of Cancer in China (TCC) during three sustained ENSO events during 2001-2018 based on long-term MODIS satellite Leaf Area Index (LAI) products (i.e., MOD15A2H). The results revealed a pronounced asymmetry in vegetation greening responses to ENSO near the TCC. Specifically, vegetation browning during strong La Ni & ntilde;a (i.e., LAI anomalies about -0.15) is twice as high as vegetation greening during strong El Ni & ntilde;o (i.e., LAI anomalies about +0.05). In La Ni & ntilde;a, vegetation browning was accompanied by negative surface air temperature and precipitation anomalies, while in El Ni & ntilde;o, vegetation greening was dominated by a positive anomaly in precipitation. This study emphasizes the distinct impact of ENSO on vegetation greening in the near-tropics, providing important insights into the response of vegetation dynamics to climate extremes under a warming world.

DOI:
10.3390/rs17060977

ISSN:
2072-4292