Seasonality and Trends of Snow-Cover, Vegetation Index, and Temperature in Northern Eurasia

We examine the spatial and temporal correspondence among recent trends in snow-cover, air temperature, and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in northern Eurasia. Our results support the contention that the previously reported springtime "greening" trend in northern Eurasian land areas arises from a combination of: (1) the direct effects of declining snow-cover on surface spectral reflectance, and (2) enhanced vegetation growth and green biomass stimulated by warmer air temperatures associated with (1). We reveal detailed patterns of intra-seasonal and latitudinal variation in the greening trend that are not apparent in previous studies.