Temporal-spatial variability of desertification in an agro-pastoral transitional zone of northern Shaanxi Province, China

Qi, Yanbing; Chang, Qingrui; Jia, Keli; Liu, Mengyun; Liu, Jing; Chen, Tao

doi:10.1016/j.catena.2011.08.003

Cited by 63 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…In general, it can be seen that vegetation growth and dune stabilization is evident in the eastern Mu Us Sandy Land, while bare sands have expanded to the central-northern and the southwestern parts. These results are consistent with those published in other studies (e.g., [21,26]). Several hot-spot change sites were used for visual interpretation of the results and to confirm the validity of the processes resulted by the CVA variables.…”

Section: Analysis and Resultssupporting

confidence: 94%

“…These studies presented 3-4 severity categories of desertification (e.g., severe, moderate, slight) or dune stability (e.g., mobile, semi-mobile, semi-fixed, fixed) along with their temporal trends in selected years stemming from the availability of the images [8,13,15,17,25,26]. In order to assess long-term changes, an alternative approach was implemented and described in the current research, namely CVA.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Early data, from the 1960s, on land cover were manually interpreted from black and white aerial photographs and supplementary maps [23]. Most studies analyzed Landsat MSS/TM/ETM+ data from selected years on a regional scale [6,8,[11][12][13][15][16][17][18][20][21][22][24][25][26], supplemented by thematic, administrative and topographic maps. Others used low-resolution imagery data from AVHRR and MODIS [12,21,27].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using different biophysical indicators (e.g., vegetation indices, fractional cover, albedo, etc. ), quantitative and qualitative assessments were applied to classify the severity levels of sandification [13,15,16,18,25,26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Land-Use and Land-Cover in the Mu Us Sandy Land, China, Using the Change Vector Analysis Technique

Karnieli

Qin

et al. 2014

Remote Sensing

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Abstract:The spatial extent of desertified vs. rehabilitated areas in the Mu Us Sandy Land, China, was explored. The area is characterized by complex landscape changes that were caused by different drivers, either natural or anthropogenic, interacting with each other, and resulting in multiple consequences. Two biophysical variables, NDVI, positively correlated with vegetation cover, and albedo, positively correlated with cover of exposed sands, were computed from a time series of merged NOAA-AVHRR and MODIS images (1981 to 2010). Generally, throughout the study period, NDVI increased and albedo decreased. Improved understanding of spatial and temporal dynamics of these environmental processes was achieved by using the Change Vector Analysis (CVA) technique applied to NDVI and albedo data extracted from four sets of consecutive Landsat images, several years apart. Changes were detected for each time step, as well as over the entire period (1978 to 2007). Four categories of land cover were created-vegetation, exposed sands, water bodies and wetlands. The CVA's direction and magnitude enable detecting and quantifying finer changes compared to separate NDVI or albedo difference/ratio images OPEN ACCESS Remote Sens. 2014, 6 9317 and result in pixel-based maps of the change. Each of the four categories has a biophysical meaning that was validated in selected hot-spots, employing very high spatial resolution images (e.g., Ikonos). Selection of images, taking into account inter and intra annual variability of rainfall, enables differentiating between short-term conservancies (e.g., drought) and long-term alterations. NDVI and albedo, although comparable to tasseled cap's brightness and greenness indices, have the advantage of being computed using reflectance values extracted from various Landsat platforms since the early 1970s. It is shown that, over the entire study period, the majority of the Mu Us Sandy Land area remained unchanged. Part of the area (6%), mainly in the east, was under human-induced rehabilitation processes, in terms of increasing vegetation cover. In other areas (5.1%), bare sands were found to expand to the central-north and the southwest of the area.

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Section: Analysis and Resultssupporting

confidence: 94%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Land-Use and Land-Cover in the Mu Us Sandy Land, China, Using the Change Vector Analysis Technique

Karnieli

Qin

et al. 2014

Remote Sensing

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“…After the studies of Thomas et al [84] and Wang et al [85], studies of sandy desertification, vegetation recovery, and dune activity at various spatial and temporal scales have been carried out around the world in different dune fields [64,[86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93]. Because of severe wind erosion, other areas with high risks of sandy desertification include steppes and areas of reclaimed grasslands [94].…”

Section: Advances In Current Research On Sandy Desertificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sandy desertification: Borne on the wind

Wang

2013

Chin. Sci. Bull.

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Sandy desertification is both an inherently interesting bioscience and geoscience topic and an important topic from the perspectives of the ecological environment and food security. It has therefore increasingly attracted the attention of the public, in addition to researchers, government officials, and international organizations. This paper reviews the development of knowledge on sandy desertification, research progress in understanding the physical and biological processes involved in sandy desertification, and the significance of wind activity in determining the increases and decreases in sandy desertification. Based on this review of current research on the mechanisms and processes of sandy desertification, combining geological and biological sciences appears likely to improve our understanding of this complex system, thereby providing a more holistic understanding of sandy desertification at a range of temporal and spatial scales. aeolian desertification, sandy desertification, wind activity, dune activity, physical processes, biological processes Citation:Wang X M. Sandy desertification: Borne on the wind.

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Combating Aeolian Desertification in Northern China

et al. 2013

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Progress in combating aeolian desertification (land degradation resulting from wind erosion) has been achieved in an agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China since the mid-1980s. This paper reviews three common measures used to combat and control aeolian desertification in such regions. In addition, it introduces a case study on the recovery of a degraded semi-arid ecosystem to provide regional lessons and support theoretical and practical approaches to desertification prevention and reversal on a global scale. On the basis of the analysis and evaluation of three kinds of typical measures and one regional scale case, this study shows that human-caused aeolian desertified land can be rehabilitated. Although the technologies and management of combating aeolian desertification in an agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China still need further improvement through more experimentation and practical application in the future, the experience gained to date contains important lessons for the recovery of degraded land on a global scale.

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Temporal-spatial variability of desertification in an agro-pastoral transitional zone of northern Shaanxi Province, China

Cited by 63 publications

References 34 publications

Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Land-Use and Land-Cover in the Mu Us Sandy Land, China, Using the Change Vector Analysis Technique

Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Land-Use and Land-Cover in the Mu Us Sandy Land, China, Using the Change Vector Analysis Technique

Sandy desertification: Borne on the wind

Combating Aeolian Desertification in Northern China

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