history, lasting from June 8th to July 1st. The study focused on
measuring the quantity and quality of vegetation growth throughout the
state as well as examining the most impacted region in the state, the
region in and around Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, through remote
sensing. The study utilized three types of data: surface reflectance,
Leaf Area Index (LAI), and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index
(NDVI). The surface reflectance data gave three dates, May 8, June 9,
and July 11, 2008, which best exemplified pre-, during, and post flood
conditions. LAI revealed that, during the flood period, vegetation
levels in 2008 were at a lower level than those of 2007. It also,
unexpectedly, indicated a post-July vegetation boom for 2008, giving
it a conspicuously higher vegetation value than that of 2007. NDVI
data corroborated previous findings even though it differentiated
between healthy, unhealthy, and dead vegetation. After isolating the
most affected area, it was discovered that the same phenomenon was
substantiated but only in a more conspicuous fashion. The findings
are to be further corroborated by AMSR-E passive microwave data which
would measure soil moisture over the two years. In general, we expect
our findings to be supported in the near future and anticipate results
on how long the soil was saturated after the flood to maybe help
explain the findings of this study.
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