NDVI, temperature and rainfall are critical in understanding the interactions between terrestrial ecosystems and climate system in an eco-sensitive region. The inter-annual variations in vegetation cover is one of the main drivers of climate changes (Piao et al., 2006; Zhou et al., 2001; Schimel et al., 2001). Investigations of the correlation between NDVI and climate factors (Zhang et al., 2013) aid in understanding the causes that bring changes in the terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycle and shed light on the mechanisms controlling the response of terrestrial carbon storage to climate variability (Braswell et al., 1997; Potter and Brooks, 1998). During the past two decades, numerous studies have attempted the relationships between NDVI and climate factors in different geographic regions and ecosystems. However, the mechanisms of the response of vegetation to climate change are still not clear (Wang et al., 2003). Most of these studies have related NDVI with climate factors during the growing season or examined their spatial changes (Schultz and Halpert, 1995; Yang et al., 1997; Potter and Brooks, 1998; Suzuki et al., 2000). Some studies have focused on the relationships between change in NDVI and climate variables in different seasons to described their spatial patterns (Jobbagy et al., 2002; Piao et al., 2003, 2004; Wang et al., 2003; Zhou et al., 2003). However, there are no studies focusing on long time sequence of NDVI with the climatic parameters in the Western Ghats region in India. This region constitute one of the 34 global biodiversity hotspots having exceptional levels of plant endemism and serious levels of habitat loss (Conservation International, 2005), therefore, the study of vegetation change and  relationship between NDVI and climatic parameters in this area is of significance. 

Here, datasets of the satellite-derived NDVI and climatic factors are combined to analyse spatio-temporal patterns of vegetation growth. The aim is to assess NDVI based vegetation changes and their response to climatic factors or climate change parameters from 2003 to 2012 in Western Ghats, India. The primary purpose of this study is to identify the extent and location of vegetation changes occurred in Western Ghats region during the past 10 years. Understanding the impact of climate changes on vegetation growth in this region is critical because this region is among the most fragile ecosystems. First, we analysed changes in NDVI and its relationship with climatic factors such as temperature and precipitation data and then we explored the variation trends in NDVI to gain further insights into the contribution of different seasons to NDVI.
The objectives of this study are:

1. To construct a long-term NDVI, LST and rainfall time-series datasets covering 2003–2012 by integrating MODIS NDVI, MODIS LST and rainfall data from monitoring stations. 
2. To understand the LC change, temperature variation and rainfall pattern in Western Ghats during 10 years (from 2003 to 2012).
3. To explore the inter-annual variation in growth of dense vegetation from 2003 to 2012. 
4. Present an analysis of the trends of vegetation (forest and agricultural) and climatic variables (temperature and  precipitation) using the constructed NDVI and climate data sets, and investigate their relationship in different months and seasons during  2003–2012. 
5. Make a comparison about the correlation of NDVI–temperature and NDVI–precipitation, and model the precipitation pattern in vegetation areas.

Results of this study would provide an example for further studies by integrating NDVI data from different sources to monitor long time-sequence NDVI  change, and provide extended NDVI dataset as driving data for estimating long series net  primary productivity (NPP) of vegetation.