Time changes in spatial structure of surface variability in the Southern Great Plains

This study focuses on time changes in the spatial structure of vegetation density and land surface temperature derived from satellite remote sensing in the Southern Great Plains. In this region the spatial distribution of vegetation density for a diverse land surface was anisotropic and statistically heterogeneous. As a drying period progressed, heterogeneity decreased slightly and the variability became more dependent on smaller length scales. Within similar land cover classifications, vegetation density was approximately homogeneous with a correlation scale up to 40 km. In the same region, land surface temperature exhibited anisotropy and heterogeneity with dramatic changes in structure from day-to-day. Land cover did not exert a significant control on the land surface temperature structure.