A NOVEL SPECTRAL LINEAR TRANSFORMATION TO ESTIMATE NON-PHOTOSYNTHETIC VEGETATION COVERAGE IN NORTH ASIAN STEPPE

The average time differences (∆T) between green-up date and snowmelt onset date from 2001–2018 on the Tibetan Plateau were 36.7 days. With the increasing spring mean temperature, spring total precipitation and daily snowmelt, ∆T became shorter. Besides, in arid and low-vegetation areas, ∆T is primarily influenced by snowmelt, whereas in humid and high-vegetation areas, temperature plays a dominant role.