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How to Create NDVI Maps in SOFTWARE

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QGIS 3: 33 Truly
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NDVI measures "greenness" and healthy vegetation. In this guide, we teach you how
to calculate NDVI in the ArcGIS Image Analysis Toolbar

Last Updated: Feb 17, 2018 REMOTE SENSING

How to use NDVI in ArcGIS

In agriculture, forestry and ecology, these elds use Normalized
Difference Vegetation Index or NDVI maps to assess vegetation. The Big Satellite List.
But what is NDVI? 50 Satellites. 30 Words
or Less.
In general, NDVI uses two properties to quantify healthy
Think you know remote sensing 
vegetation. It uses near-infrared (NIR) because vegetation
satellites? Think again. This

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5/24/2018 How to Create NDVI Maps in ArcGIS - GIS Geography

SPONSORED SEARCHES strongly re ects it. And it also uses satellite list has the top 50
Software red light, because plants strongly satellites that silently orbit the
Earth. In 30 words or less.
absorb it. For this same reason, this
Ndvi
is why our eyes see vegetation as
the color green. GIS CAREER

Now that you have a bit of background on NDVI, you can easily
create NDVI maps in ArcGIS.

Simply, follow these 4 steps. 1000 GIS Applications &

Uses – How GIS Is
How to create NDVI maps in ArcMap Changing the World
From over 50 industries, here are
You can create NDVI maps with the image analysis toolbar in 1000 GIS applications to open your
ArcGIS 10. All you need is imagery with red and NIR bands. For mind of our amazing planet, its
example, you can download Sentinel-2 or Landsat data from interconnectivity with location

this list of 15 free satellite imagery sources. intelligence in mind.

In this tutorial, we want to classify

high and low vegetation. Pixels with OUR LATEST
high NDVI values indicate high SPONSORED SEARCHES

vegetation or chlorophyll. Whereas, ArcGIS GIS ANALYSIS

low NDVI values generally means
GIS Map
less vegetation. Furthermore,
negative NDVI values is a good
indicator that it’s water.
The Rise of Machine
In this NDVI example, we use Worldview-2 (WV-2) which is Learning (ML): How to
multispectral imagery. We say multispectral because it has Use Arti cial
multiple bands like red, green, blue and near-infrared (NIR). The Intelligence in GIS
band con guration for WV-2 is: GIS is applying machine learning
into areas such as classi cation,
Worldview-2 Band Con guration prediction and segmentation.
Using supervised and supervised
Coastal as Band 1 learning, arti cial intelligence
Blue as Band 2 automatically learns through
training and labeling to solve
Green as Band 3
problems.
Yellow as Band 4 
Red as Band 5
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5/24/2018 How to Create NDVI Maps in ArcGIS - GIS Geography

Red Edge as Band 6

OpenStreetMap
Near Infrared 1 (NIR-1) as Band 7 Data: How to
Download Crowd-
Near Infrared 2 (NIR-2) as Band 8
Sourced OSM Data

Let’s examine this agricultural area with center pivot irrigation.

As this type of irrigation rotates on a pivot in a circle, it creates DigitalGlobe
Satellite Imagery:
these circular crop patterns.
Worldview, GeoEye
and IKONOS
If you want to display true color, select the red, green and blue
bands in layer properties. We say true color because it is the
Esri JavaScript API
same as how our eyes see. In the case of Worldview-2, this is
Examples: 15 High-
would be band 5 as red, band 3 as green and band 2 as blue. Tech Webmaps and
Webscenes

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But if you want to display color infrared, you need band 7 as the
red channel, band 5 as the green channel and band 3 as the blue POPULAR POSTS

channel. We say color infrared because near infrared is in the

red channel. As you can see below, the pivot irrigation SOFTWARE

vegetation should already be shouting out at you in bright red!

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ArcGIS and QGIS – The
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Now, let’s go through the steps for how to create a NDVI map. between ArcGIS and QGIS

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5/24/2018 How to Create NDVI Maps in ArcGIS - GIS Geography

1 Enable Image Analysis Toolbar MAPS & CARTOGRAPHY

First, enable the Image Analysis Toolbar (Windows > Image

Analysis). The image analysis window will be displayed in
ArcMap.
Magnetic North vs
Geographic (True)
North Pole
The Magnetic North Pole is a point
in Northern Canada where the
northern lines of attraction enter
the Earth. Compass needles point
to the magnetic north.

Image Analysis Toolbar

SOFTWARE

2 Check Scienti c Output Properties

Second, under image analysis options, select the red band and
the near infrared band.
13 Free GIS Software
Options: Map the World
in Open Source
There’s a bucket load of free GIS
Image analysis toolbar options software packages available for
you to map the world. Manage,
For Worldview-2 imagery, under the NDVI tab – the red band is visualize and edit GIS data with
“band 5” and the NIR band is “band 7”. open source GIS software.

NDVI band selection

Optionally select “Scienti c Output” so your values range from

-1 to 1.


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3 Click the NDVI Icon

Download
Highlight your layer by clicking it.
Chrome at W
Enterprise Browser
Solution for Your
Highlight your image
Organization. Deplo
Under properties, Select the NDVI icon which looks like a leaf. Chrome Now!
Google

NDVI button

This will create temporary layer in the table of contents. Bright

green indicates high NDVI. Whereas red has low NDVI.

4 Export Raster

Highlight the new NDVI layer that you want to export by

selecting it in the image analysis toolbar.

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Highlight NDVI raster

Right click layer, and export raster to save into memory.

Export raster

High positive NDVI values (green) means high vegetation. While

water usually has negative NDVI values (yellow and red). In
general, urban features usually are near zero.

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Google

How do you use NDVI maps?

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) uses the NIR

and red channels to measure healthy vegetation. If you want to
calculate it manually, this is the formula you can use.

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NDVI always generates a value between -1 and +1. It’s really just
a standardized way to measure healthy vegetation. But how do
you apply NDVI as a remote sensing application?

In the example above, agriculture uses NDVI for precision

farming. If you look very closely in the NDVI image, you can see
where crop growth isn’t as good. In this case, farmers can
increase crop yield by knowing exactly where unhealthy
vegetation is. Here are other GIS applications on the farm.

For over 20 years, AVHRR has recorded NDVI. Because we

know how NDVI changes over time, this helps us understand
about vegetation growth on Earth. In forestry, this helps them
understand about leaf area index, forest supply and re danger

READ MORE: 100 Earth Shattering Remote Sensing

Applications & Uses

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Earth 3D

3D Map

 ARCGIS TIPS AND TRICKS IMAGE CLASSIFICATION

VEGETATION INDEX

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Eliminate
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15 COMMENTS

Ayana says:
MARCH 16, 2015 AT 2:22 AM

This is really very nice and helps for analysis. However, usually
strict NDVI values aren’t declared. It is true that NDVI values
range from -1 to 1 but in strict form the intervals aren’t given. So,
that creates the problem to reclassify the NDVI values and
impossible to estimate the area coverage and the like of the
vegetation cover. Could you please help us the clear values
(ranges) of the computed NDVI to estimate to generate more
results.

Wanna Mid says:

APRIL 6, 2015 AT 4:49 AM

Where is the “Scienti c Output” tool or tick box located in Step

2?I can’t nd it.Please help.

GISGeography  says:
APRIL 6, 2015 AT 8:13 AM

In the image analysis toolbar, click the top-left for the options. In
the NDVI tab, “scienti c output” is the bottom option. Click the
check mark.

Wanna Mid says:

APRIL 7, 2015 AT 12:07 AM

Thank you for your advice but I’m using ArcGIS version 10.0 and
the option is not there. What version are you using?


GISGeography  says:
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5/24/2018 How to Create NDVI Maps in ArcGIS - GIS Geography
APRIL 7, 2015 AT 5:39 AM

We’re using 10.3. Sorry but not sure how to do it in 10.0

Curious says:
MAY 23, 2015 AT 12:11 PM

How is this performed with Landsat 8 imagery, exactly? The

images are separated into the bands. If I open 5 and 7, and run
the options are described here, the NDVI button remains grayed
out.

GISGeography  says:
MAY 28, 2015 AT 4:18 AM

Here are the band designations for Landsat-8:

Band 1: Coastal / Aerosol – 0.433 – 0.453 µm (30 m)
Band 2: Visible Blue – 0.450 – 0.515 µm (30 m)
Band 3: Visible Green – 0.525 – 0.600 µm (30 m)
Band 4: Visible Red – 0.630 – 0.680 µm (30 m)
Band 5: Near Infrared – 0.845 – 0.885 µm (30 m)
Band 6: Short Wavelength Infrared – 1.56 – 1.66 (30 m)
Band 7: Short Wavelength Infrared – 2.10 – 2.30 (30 m)
Band 8: Panchromatic – 0.50 – 0.68 (15 m)
Band 9: Cirrus – 1.36 – 1.39 µm (30 m)
Band 10: Long Wavelength Infrared – 10.3 – 11.3 µm (100 m)
Band 11: Long Wavelength Infrared – 11.5 – 12.5 µm (100 m)

So you will need bands 4 and 5. If you have these bands as

separate images, then you should use the “composite band”
tools. This will combine bands into a single image. After running
this tool, you should be able to follow these steps and create an
NDVI map.

tuando says:
JULY 10, 2015 AT 8:54 PM


Version 10.1 up to 10.x uses NDVI the same as this.

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david says:
SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 AT 9:11 AM

To create NDVI in ArcGIS 10.0, you can also use arctoolbox-

raster calculate

mashal says:
OCTOBER 1, 2015 AT 5:10 AM

How do you follow the same process with modis data in ArcGIS
10.2, I intend to make natural color image so can I use the
combination of band 1,2,1 as RGB???

Killi says:
NOVEMBER 25, 2017 AT 8:39 AM

How to calculate the AREA of the NDVI Ranges???

Emily says:
DECEMBER 9, 2017 AT 2:22 PM

@Killi I have the same problem, you may have already solved it?

Leenath says:
FEBRUARY 21, 2018 AT 11:23 PM

Hi. Can someone tell me a way to convert NDVI values into

chlorophyll? OR how to get chlorophyll content (mg/m2) in rice
canopy? OR how to develop chlorophyll maps?

jamuna says:
MARCH 11, 2018 AT 12:43 AM

can you tell me the band designations for landsat-7



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GISGeography  says:
MARCH 11, 2018 AT 8:24 PM

Here’s a link for all Landsat band designations:

https://gisgeography.com/landsat-program-satellite-imagery-
bands/

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