Green biomass and rainfall in semi-arid sub-Saharan Africa

Data from the AVHRR sensor of polar-orbiting meteorological satellites were used to estimate biomass production on the southern border of the Sahara from 1981–1986. Average integrated normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) threshold values were compared with several climatic zone, bioclimatic, agroclimatic, agroecological, and vegetation maps. Threshold index isolines agreed closely with major zone boundaries in several instances but also differed in some cases. Meteorological satellite measurements can usefully complement scattered ground observations and can provide daily surveillance of vegetation changes.