VARIABILITY OF SURFACE ALBEDO, VEGETATION COVER IN HYRCANIAN FORESTS OF IRAN

Among all land surface processes potentially affected by climate warming, vegetation greenness which influences the surface energy balance, is one of the most critical issues. The present study examines the relationship between changes in vegetation cover and changes in surface albedo. Using MODIS imagery, mean annual albedo variations (during the growth season) and their relation with the changes in NDVI values in 6 climate zones (located at the North of Iran) were analyzed in a 13-year period (2004–2016). Hot spots for temperature were obtained using the information of 17 weather stations and compared with the changes in albedo. According to the results, surface albedo increased during the study period in all climates, except for the sub-humid sites (SH-C-VW). Generally, increase in surface albedo observed in majority of the study area, while decrease in albedo was detected and no significant change in the remaining areas.