Bhutan Subnational NDVI: Dekadal Vegetation Indicators and Anomalies

Bhutan sub-national vegetation health data provided by the World Food Programme, featuring dekadal NDVI indicators derived from NASA MODIS collection 6.1. The dataset aggregates satellite imagery into administrative units using WFP Pcode references to track agricultural and environmental conditions.

Use Cases

• Monitoring agricultural drought by tracking the NDVI anomaly percentage (viq) across districts
• Comparing current vegetation health (vim) against historical baselines (vim_lta) to assess seasonal performance
• Validating data confidence for specific regions using the n_pixels column to see the underlying data density

Strengths

• Derived from NASA MODIS collection 6.1 satellite data
• Includes vim_lta for historical baseline comparisons
• Standardized WFP Pcode references for GIS interoperability

Limitations

• Aggregated format removes the spatial granularity of individual 250m or 500m MODIS pixels
• Accuracy is subject to cloud cover interference common in satellite-derived NDVI

Provenance

Source

World Food Programme (WFP) via NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)

Collection Method

Automated aggregation of satellite-based sensor imagery into administrative polygons

Freshness

Updated as of March 2026; follows a dekadal (10-day) update frequency.

Geography

Bhutan