Development of a vegetation growth model adapted to urban areas

Abstract

The study of vegetation growth and the variables involved in this process have motivated research in the fields of agriculture, forestry and environmental sciences, with the development of different models. Vegetation growth models run simulations to predict the developing, growth and yield of agricultural plantations. However, there are few examples of such models considering urban areas, where vegetation growth is influenced by different situations and goes through a regular cutting process. In this context, the purpose of this work is to implement a vegetation growth model adapted to urban areas based on models already developed. The parameters that will be initially considered to develop the model are: solar radiation, leaf area index, vapor pressure deficit, air temperature, water availability and atmospheric CO2 concentration, extracted from the growth models used within WEPP (Water Erosion Prediction Project) - a computer program developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS). The data simulated by the developed model will be evaluated using data collected in loco and from satellite images, which will be used to evaluate the variations of the indexes on large scale. (AU)