Estimating senesced biomass of desert steppe in Inner Mongolia using field spectrometric data

► The paper focuses on senesced biomass estimation using spectral indices. ► The efficacies of different methods are compared based on experimental data. ► The performance of CAI is better than that of any other spectral indices. ► The TM-based indices are not reliable for senesced biomass estimation. ► The MODIS-based DFI needs to be examined more carefully using field data.