ABSTRACT

The response of NDVI to precipitation was analyzed using MODIS product acquired over a time period of six growing seasons (2014 to 2019) and rainfall data from 2 weather stations from two cities close to Guaratinguetá. It was possible to identify six cycles with average duration of 5 months. In general, significant correlation was found between average values of rainfall and NDVI range (0.68), so rainfall explains more than 60% of the effects of variation in the vegetation index. However, 2015 was an atypical year, when occurred the lowest average values of NDVI overlapping the peak of precipitation, showing a high correlation (0.79), coinciding with occurrence of phenomenon El Niño. In addition to, the year of 2014 stands out for the highest peak of NDVI values in contrast to the lowest peak of rainfall values. The average of the total NDVI was 0.3494 and the global average of the precipitation was 3.8921. The obtained results confirmed that the relationship between precipitation and NDVI is strong and predictable when viewed at the appropriate spatial scale.