Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI)

An example map of mean SAVI for May-June-July 2023 using Landsat data.

Description

Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI) provides information on vegetation growth and productivity while correcting for influences of soil reflectance. Effects due to climate, weather, fire, water, and vegetation and crop management can be assessed through developing and visualizing maps, time series, and anomalies of SAVI.

SAVI is calculated as the normalized difference between the red and near infrared (NIR) bands following the equation ((NIR - Red) / (NIR + Red + L))*(1+L), where L is a soil brightness correction factor (Huete 1988). L is typically 0.5. Soil reflectance adjustments have shown to be useful for applications in sparse vegetative cover.

References

Huete, A. R. (1988). A soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI). Remote sensing of environment, 25(3), 295-309.