Jurnal

Evaluating the Utility of NDVI as a Damage Indicator for Crops in the Enhanced Fujita Scale

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ABSTRACT: Tornadoes in Canada frequently impact rural regions, particularly croplands, where traditional enhanced Fujita scale (EF scale) assessments are limited due to the absence of standard damage indicators. Not knowing the true intensities of these tornadoes results in an naccurate tornado climatology for these regions. This study evaluates the potential of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), derived from high-resolution multispectral satellite imagery, as a proxy for crop damage assessment in the EF-scale framework. According to the results, NDVI percent change analysis reliably detects EF21 damage but is largely ineffective for EF0 and EF1 tornadoes. The results also indicate that the decrease in plant health is correlated with the EF-scale rating of a tornado. Crop type and seasonal timing significantly influence NDVI detectability, with pasture and forage crops yielding weak signals and peak growing season offering the clearest damage signatures. This study also concludes that it is possible to revisit EF0-Default/EF-Unknown tornadoes that occur in agricultural areas to give them a more definitive rating on the EF scale. While NDVI analysis cannot delineate full tornado paths or replace ground surveys, it offers a scalable, remote sensing based method to supplement tornado intensity assessments in agricultural regions. This approach may help reclassify underreported tornadoes and improve climatological accuracy in rural areas.
KEYWORDS: Tornadoes; Climatology; Remote sensing; Satellite observations

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Ketersediaan

JUR00493.1

632.180285 MIL e

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Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

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No. Panggil

632.180285 MIL e

Penerbit

Boston, USA : American Meteorological Society., 2026

Deskripsi Fisik

p 133-154

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

1558-8432

Klasifikasi

632.180285

Tipe Isi

text

Tipe Media

unspecified

Tipe Pembawa

volume

Edisi

Volume 65 (2026): Issue 1 (Jan 2026)

Subjek

Crops — Effect of storms on — Evaluation
Vegetation index (NDVI)
Enhanced Fujita Scale — Applications
Remote sensing in agriculture
Tornado damage — Remote sensing

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

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