基于垂直带谱的南北过渡带1:5万植被类型图遥感制图研究——以太白山为例

The compilation of 1:250,000 vegetation type map in the North-South transitional zone and 1:50,000 vegetation type maps in typical mountainous areas is one of the main tasks of Integrated Scientific Investigation of the North-South Transitional Zone of China.In the past,vegetation type maps were compiled by a large number of ground field surveys.Although the field survey method is accurate,it is not only time-consuming,but also only covers a small area due to the limitations of physical environment conditions.Remote sensing data can make up for the limitation of field survey because of its full coverage.However,there are still some difficulties and bottlenecks in the extraction of remote sensing information of vegetation types,especially in the automatic extraction.As an example of the compilation of 1:50,000 vegetation type map,this paper explores and studies the remote sensing extraction and mapping methods of vegetation type with medium and large scales based on mountain altitudinal belts of Taibai Mountain,using multi-temporal high resolution remote sensing data,ground survey data,previous vegetation type map and forest survey data.The results show that:1)mountain altitudinal belts can effectively support remote sensing classification and mapping of 1:50,000 vegetation type map in mountain areas.Terrain constraint factors with mountain altitudinal belt information can be generated by mountain altitudinal belts and 1:10,000 Digital Surface Model(DSM)data of Taibai Mountain.Combining the terrain constraint factors with multi-temporal and high-resolution remote sensing data,ground survey data and previous small-scale vegetation type map data,the vegetation types at all levels can be extracted effectively.2)The basic remote sensing interpretation and mapping process for typical mountains is interpretation of vegetation type-groups→interpretation of vegetation formation groups,formations and subformations→interpretation and classification of vegetation types&subtypes,which is a combination method of top-down method and bottom-up method,not the top-down or the bottom-up classification according to the level of mapping units.The results of this study provide a demonstration and scientific basis for the compilation of large and medium scale vegetation type maps.     

Rural resident household food consumption patterns in the Ganzhou district of Zhangye city: an analysis based on ELES Model

Demand for food plays an important role in the adjustment of prices for agricultural products and for adjusting agricultural structure.By using the extended linear expenditure system(ELES),we analyzed the food consumption structure of rural residents in the Ganzhou district of Zhangye city,and determined the basic food-consumption demand,the marginal propensity of consumption,the income elasticities of demand,and the own-price and cross-price elasticities of local rural residents,all of which illustrate the influencing factors on food consumption of rural residents and for forecasting the food-consumption structure.Those analyses show the following:the rural residents’ expenditure on household basic food consumption reaches about 7,050.35 Yuan;the marginal propensities of consumption of fruits and vegetables are relatively high(0.062 and 0.106,respectively),followed by meat(0.044);the demands for various foods are increasing as income increases,with the largest income elasticity of demand corresponding to fruits(1.354) and the lowest to cereal(0.310);fruits and vegetables have relatively high own-price elasticities(respectively-0.879 and-0.442),with the cereal having the lowest one(-0.184).An increase in cereal prices would greatly affect demand for other products;with the rising size of rural households,the consumption for meat is decreasing whereas it is increasing for cereal.The improvement of household education levels will lead to the increase of fruit consumption(E = 0.297),which indicates that people will pay more attention to diet and nutrition structure with the improvement of education.Further,although the amount of cereal expenditure is continually growing,the share will be declining with the increase of household income in 2006-2012.For all these reasons,therefore,the government should encourage the cultivation of economic crops and guide the development of stockbreeding to ensure the stability of cereal output.In order to attain the balance between supply and demand,it is important to rationally a     

长三角地区产业转型的大气污染效应——基于空间溢出视角

The Yangtze River Delta(YRD) is a region in China with a serious contradiction between economic growth and environmental pollution. Exploring the spatiotemporal effects and influencing factors of air pollution in the region is highly important for formulating policies to promote the high-quality development of urban industries. This study uses the spatial Durbin model(SDM) to analyze the local direct and spatial spillover effects of industrial transformation on air pollution and quantifies the contribution of each factor. From 2008 to 2018, there was a significant spatial agglomeration of industrial sulfur dioxide emissions(ISDE) in the YRD, and every 1% increase in ISDE led to a synchronous increase of 0.603% in the ISDE in adjacent cities. The industrial scale index(ISCI) and industrial structure index(ISTI), as the core factors of industrial transformation, significantly affect the emissions of sulfur dioxide in the YRD, and the elastic coefficients are 0.677 and-0.368, respectively. The order of the direct effect of the explanatory variables on local ISDE is ISCI>ISTI>foreign direct investment(FDI)>enterprise technological innovation(ETI)>environmental regulation(ER)> per capita GDP(PGDP). Similarly, the order of the spatial spillover effect of all variables on ISDE in adjacent cities is ISCI>PGDP>FDI>ETI>ISTI>ER, and the coefficients of the ISCI and ISTI are 1.531 and 0.113, respectively. This study contributes to the existing research that verifies the environmental Kuznets curve in the YRD, denies the pollution heaven hypothesis, indicates the Porter hypothesis, and provides empirical evidence for the formation mechanism of regional environmental pollution from a spatial spillover perspective.     

珠江三角洲地区城镇化与生态韧性的耦合协调研究

Urban resilience is an emerging research topic of urban studies, and its essence is described by the ability of cities to resist, recover, and adapt to uncertain disturbances. This paper constructs a "Size-Density-Morphology" urban ecological resilience evaluation system, uses a coupling coordination degree model to measure the degree of coupling coordination between urbanization and ecological resilience in the Pearl River Delta from 2000 to 2015, and conducts an in-depth discussion on its spatiotemporal characteristics. The results show the following.(1) From 2000 to 2015, the urbanization level of cities in the study area generally increased while the level of ecological resilience declined. The coupling coordination degree between the two systems decreased from basic coordination to basic imbalance.(2) In terms of spatial distribution, the coupling coordination degree between urbanization and ecological resilience of cities presented a circular pattern that centered on the cities at the estuary of the Pearl River and increased toward the periphery.(3) Ecological resilience sub-systems played variable roles in the coupling coordination between urbanization and ecological resilience. Specifically, size resilience mainly played a reverse blocking role;the influence of morphology resilience was generally positive and continued to increase over time;the effect of density resilience was positive and continued to decline and further became negative after falling below zero. The main pathways for achieving coordinated and sustainable development of future urbanization and ecological resilience in the Pearl River Delta include: leading the coordinated development of regions with new urbanization, improving ecological resilience by strictly observing the three areas and three lines, adapting to ecological carrying capacity, and rationally arranging urban green spaces.     

Spatiotemporal evolution of urban carbon emission performance in China and prediction of future trends

Climate change resulting from CO_2 emissions has become an important global environmental issue in recent years.Improving carbon emission performance is one way to reduce carbon emissions.Although carbon emission performance has been discussed at the national and industrial levels,city-level studies are lacking due to the limited availability of statistics on energy consumption.In this study,based on city-level remote sensing data on carbon emissions in China from 1992–2013,we used the slacks-based measure of super-efficiency to evaluate urban carbon emission performance.The traditional Markov probability transfer matrix and spatial Markov probability transfer matrix were constructed to explore the spatiotemporal evolution of urban carbon emission performance in China for the first time and predict long-term trends in carbon emission performance.The results show that urban carbon emission performance in China steadily increased during the study period with some fluctuations.However,the overall level of carbon emission performance remains low,indicating great potential for improvements in energy conservation and emission reduction.The spatial pattern of urban carbon emission performance in China can be described as"high in the south and low in the north,"and significant differences in carbon emission performance were found between cities.The spatial Markov probabilistic transfer matrix results indicate that the transfer of carbon emission performance in Chinese cities is stable,resulting in a"club convergence"phenomenon.Furthermore,neighborhood backgrounds play an important role in the transfer between carbon emission performance types.Based on the prediction of long-term trends in carbon emission performance,carbon emission performance is expected to improve gradually over time.Therefore,China should continue to strengthen research and development aimed at improving urban carbon emission performance and achieving the national energy conservation and emission reduction goals.Meanwhile,neighboring cities with different neighborhood backgrounds should pursue cooperative economic strategies that balance economic growth,energy conservation,and emission reductions to realize low-carbon construction and sustainable development.     

1958-2017年长江流域气候变化的时空特征与热点区域

The Yangtze River Watershed in China is a climate change hotspot featuring strong spatial and temporal variability;hence, it poses a certain threat to social development. Identifying the characteristics of and regions vulnerable to climate change is significantly important for formulating adaptive countermeasures. However, with regard to the Yangtze River Watershed, there is currently a lack of research on these aspects from the perspective of natural and anthropogenic factors. To address this issue, in this study, based on the temperature and precipitation records from 717 meteorological stations, the RClim Dex and random forest models were used to assess the spatiotemporal characteristics of climate change and identify mainly the natural and anthropogenic factors influencing climate change hotspots in the Yangtze River Watershed for the period 1958-2017. The results indicated a significant increasing trend in temperature, a trend of wet and dry polarization in the annual precipitation, and that the number of temperature indices with significant variations was 2.8 times greater than that of precipitation indices. Significant differences were also noted in the responses of the climate change characteristics of the sub-basins to anthropogenic and natural factors;the delta plain of the Yangtze River estuary exhibited the most significant climate changes, where 88.89% of the extreme climate indices varied considerably. Furthermore, the characteristics that were similar among the identified hotpots, including human activities(higher Gross Domestic Product and construction land proportions) and natural factors(high altitudes and large proportions of grassland and water bodies), were positively correlated with the rapid climate warming.     

CHENGTU-A STUDY IN URBAN GEOGRAPHY

1. Location and Historical Development Chengtu, the capital city of western Szechwan, is located on the lower part of the Min and Tu alluvial fan (Fig.1) which has an area of about 6,000 sq.km., and is the most fertile irrigated fields of the western China. The autbor discusses the location and site of the city to compare with other cities on the alluvial fan, and finds that the selection and development of Chengtu as a capital city is due chiefly to the reason that it is situated at the terminus point o...     

中国山地范围界定的初步意见

中国山地的范围一直缺乏可操作的、准确的量化方法,从而导致对山地及其内部资源、环境、人口和发展问题认识的不全面.同时,准确界定山地范围是实施数字山地战略的一项基础性工作.在前人研究的基础上,采用两种方案确定中国山地范围.方案一:将满足以下两种情况的国土界定为山地,1)海拔≥3 000 m;2)海拔≥1300～3 000 m,同时相对高差>200 m或坡度>25°.根据此标准计算,中国山地面积为4 000 265 km2,占中国陆地面积的41.67%.方案二:根据UNEP-WCMC的标准,将满足下述情况的国土定义为山地,1)海拔≥2 500 m;2)海拔≥1 500～2 500 m,坡度≥2°;3)海拔≥1 000～1 500 m,坡度≥5°或相对高差≥300 m;4)海拔≥300～1 000 m,相对高差≥300 m.根据此标准计算,中国山地面积为4 426 130 km2占中国陆地面积的46.11%.按两种方法计算所得的分省山地面积中,前5名都是西藏、青海、新疆、四川和云南.将两种方案计算的山地面积按高程划分为六级:①300～1 000 m(含300 m),②1 000～1 500 m(含1 000 m),③1 500～2 500 m(含1 500 m),④2 500～3 500 m(含2 500 m),⑤3 500～4 500 m(含3 500 m),⑥≥4 500 m.根据两种方案的定义,海拔3 500 m以上的山地面积相等;除了方案-在300～1 000 m间山地较方案二多324 508 km2外,其余几个级别山地的面积均为方案二大于方案-的山地面积,其中2 500～3 500 m间多133 432 km2,1 500～2 500 m间多336 186 km2,1 000～1 500 m间多282 273 km2.     

美丽中国与国土空间规划关系的地理学思考

The concept of‘Beautiful China'is a new goal of ecological construction in the new era of socialism and aims to meet the needs of people as they strive for a better life.National land spatial planning is one major component of the Chinese state's overall planning for various spatial types.The concept of‘Beautiful China'is thus a leading goal of Chinese development in the second centenary.The background of this concept aims for‘ecological beauty'as well as the combined beauty of‘economy-politics-culture-society-ecology.'The construction of‘Beautiful China'therefore necessitates a differentiated evaluation index system that is built on the basis of local conditions.This concept is intimately related to land spatial planning and the idea of Beautiful China guides an important direction for this planning which itself provides an important mechanism and spatial guarantee for construction.The establishment of land spatial planning nevertheless needs to strengthen further discussion of the regional system of human-land relationship,point axis system,main functional division,sustainable development,resources and environmental carrying capacity as well as new urbanization,and the rural multi-system.The aim of this paper is to summarize current thinking in land spatial planning,scientifically analyze the natural geographical conditions,the socioeconomic development,the interrelationship of the land space,plan the goal,vision and path of land space,encourage the public to participate in and carry out dynamic evaluation,build an intelligent system platform for land and spatial planning to realize the goal of‘Beautiful China'from a geographical perspective.And they can also present key ideas relating to the compilation and implementation of land spatial planning.     

中国欠发达地区可持续减贫与绿色发展研究

In 2020, the decisive victory of building a moderately well-off society in all aspects means that absolute poverty in rural China has been completely eliminated. Consolidating and expanding the achievements of poverty alleviation and establishing a long-term mechanism to solve relative poverty have become key issues in high-quality development of underdeveloped areas. In this study, human-earth system is employed to analyze the element composition, structural organization and functional state of underdeveloped areas. The results show that poverty in underdeveloped areas stems from the lack of the coupling and coordinating mechanism among human, economic, resource and environmental elements, which is not conducive to transforming the ecological advantages into the advantages of regional development. In the antipoverty stage, underdeveloped areas innovate the human-earth coupling and coordinating mechanism through a series of targeted measures, promote the organic combination of poverty alleviation, ecological conservation and sustainable development, and boost the transformation of regional development and the increase of farmers’ incomes. Focusing on the 14 th Five-year Plan(2021–2025) and the long-term goal of 2035, governments in underdeveloped areas should make full use of the policy support to explore scientific methods of modern governance and sustainable development. In particular, it is necessary to practice the concept that "clear waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" and take the road of the ecologicalization of industry and the industrialization of ecology by establishing a policy system of "green land", "green people", "green industry" and "green right", thus building an endogenous growth mechanism of sustainable poverty alleviation and green development in China’s underdeveloped areas.     

Natural environment suitability for human settlements in China based on GIS

With the degeneration of environment and acceleration of urbanization,human environment has attracted great attention worldwide.This paper sets up the Human Settlements Environment Index(HEI) model and evaluates the natural environment suitability for Human Settlements in China based on GIS technology.The results show that the HEI of China decreases from southeast to northwest in general,HEI is significantly correlated with population density at grid size and the correlation coefficient(r) between them reaches 0.93,which indicates that natural environment suitability for Human Settlements has a significant influence on population distribution.Most people in China mainly concentrate in areas with high natural environment suitability.The total suitable area is 430.47×104 km2,which accounts for nearly 45% of the total land area in China,while the proportion of people living in the area reaches 96.56%.With a population density of 18 people per square kilometer,the critical area is the transitional region for people to live in China.The critical area covers 225.11×104 km2 with a population of 41.12 million.The non-suitable area covers 304.42×104 km2 with a population of only 2.49 million.     

基于GIS 的中国人居环境指数模型的建立与应用

以1km×1km 栅格为基本单元, 选取地形、气候、水文、植被等自然因子, 构建了基 于人居环境指数的中国人居环境自然适宜性评价模型, 运用GIS 技术, 定量评价了中国不同 地区的人居环境自然适宜性, 揭示了中国人居环境的自然格局与地域特征。研究表明： 中国 人居环境指数整体呈现由东南沿海向西北内陆递减的趋势; 人居环境指数与人口密度显著相 关, 二者的对数曲线拟合度R² 值高达0.87, 人居环境指数可以综合反映区域人居环境的自然 适宜程度。中国人居环境自然适宜性评价结果显示, 中国人居环境适宜地区430.47×10⁴ km² , 接近国土面积的45%, 相应人口占全国的96.56%, 其中3/4 以上的人口集聚在约占1/4 人居 环境高度适宜和比较适宜地区; 中国人居环境临界适宜地区225.11×10⁴ km² , 占国土面积的 23.45%, 相应人口4112 万, 占全国的3.24%, 人口密度每平方公里18 人, 是中国人居环境 适宜与否的过渡地区; 中国人居环境不适宜地区304.42×10⁴ km², 人口249 万, 不到全国的 0.2%, 人口密度每平方公里不足1 人, 大片地区沦为“无人区”。     

干旱内陆河流域人居环境适宜性评价——以石羊河流域为例(英文)

The study employs slope,aspect,relief degree of land surface,land use,vegetation index,hydrology and climate,as evaluation indexes to set up the Human Settlements Environmental Index(HEI) model to evaluate the environmental suitability for human settlements in the Shiyang River Basin.By using GIS spatial analysis technology,such as spatial overlay analysis,buffer analysis and density analysis,the environmental suitability of the human settlement spatial situation and spatial pattern are established to analyze their spatial distribution.The results show that the index of suitability for human settlements in the Shiyang River Basin is between 17.13 and 84.32.In general,suitability for human settlements decreases from the southwest to the northeast.Seen from an area pattern,the suitable region is mainly distributed in the Minqin oasis,Wuwei oasis and Changning basin,which are about 1080.01 km 2 and account for 2.59% of the total area.Rather and comparatively suitable region is mainly distributed around the counties of Gulang,Yongchang and north of Tianzhu,which is about 1100.30 km 2.The common suitable region is mainly distributed outside the counties of Yongchang,Jinchuan and most parts of Minqin County,which are about 23328.04 km 2,accounting for 56.08% of the total area.The unsuitable region is mainly distributed upstream and to the north of the river,which is about 9937.60 km 2,accounting for 23.89% of the total area.Meanwhile,the least suitable region is distributed around the Qilian Mountains,which are covered by snow and cold desert and lie in the intersecting area between the Tengger Desert and Badain Jaran Desert.The total area is about 6154.05 km 2,accounting for 14.79% of the total area.Suitable regions for human habitation are mainly distributed around rivers in the form of ribbons and batches,while others are scattered.The distribution pattern is identical to the residential spatial pattern.In addition,the relationships between HEI and other factors have been analyzed.There is a clear logarithmic correlation between the residential environment and population,that is,the correlation coefficient between the evaluation value and population density reaches 0.851.There is also a positive correlation between the residential environment and economy,which reaches an evaluation value of 0.845 between the residential environment and GDP.Results also show that the environment is out of bearing with the existing population in Shiyang River Basin.Spatial distribution of population is profoundly affected by severe environmental problems,such as the expanded deserts,the hilly terrain and the changing climate.Surface water shortage and slow economic growth are bottlenecks for suitable human settlement in the Shiyang River Basin.Combining these problems with planning for construction of new country and the exploitation of local land,some residential areas should be relocated to improve the residential environment.     

基于栅格的区域人居自然和人文环境质量综合评价——以京津冀地区为例

区域人居环境质量对于区域社会经济发展具有重要意义。本文以京津冀地区为例,基于人居自然要素指数（地形起伏度、气候指数、水文指数和植被指数）和人文要素指数（夜间灯光指数、空气质量指数和交通通达指数）构建了人居环境质量综合指数（HSCI）,分析了2010年其空间分异规律,并探讨了人口分布与人居环境质量的相关性。主要结论为：① 人居自然环境受距渤海距离和太行山脉的影响较为明显,呈现由东南向西北递减的空间分异规律。其中,紧邻渤海的天津市和沧州市最好,太行山西侧的张家口市和承德市最差。② 人居人文环境在城市地区明显优于非城市地区,并表现出与行政级别相一致的层级结构。同时由于南部空气质量较差,其人文环境整体劣于北部。其中,北京市人文环境最优,衡水市最差。③ 人居环境质量综合指数既表现出由东南向西北依次递减的规律,又表现出城市地区向非城市地区依次递减的圈层结构,以及高级别行政区优于低级别行政区的层级结构。其中,天津市和唐山市人居环境质量最优,张家口市和承德市最差。④ 京津冀地区人口并非在人居环境最好的地方分布最多,而是在人居环境中等的地方分布最多,二者呈正态分布规律。整体来看,人居环境质量综合指数大于0.6的土地约占35%,却聚集了约40%的人口,说明该区充分利用了高人居环境质量的土地,人口与人居环境质量分布较为协调。     

Karst Ecosystem:An Ecosystem on Carbonate Rocks

<正>Karst ecosystem is an ecosystem constrained by karst environment.A series of unique characteristics of karst ecosystem are originated from carbonate rock.In China,the area with karst landform covers a total area of 3.44 million km2,accounting for one third of the whole land     

基于GIS的新疆和田地区人居环境适宜性评价

人居环境是人类生存和发展的基础。运用GIS和RS技术采用单因子评价和综合评价模型,系统地归纳了国内外人居环境评价研究的理论基础和应用研究成果,利用DEM与[WTBX]NDVI[WTBZ]数据将多年平均气温、降水量、人口和GDP等要素的栅格数统一到1 km×1 km的栅格尺度,以此反映干旱区适宜性的空间分布特征。通过数字评价模型分析,结果表明：和田地区的人居环境指数介于1.139～4.495之间;整体分布景观是从和田河流域、克里雅河流域等绿洲区向北部沙漠区和南部山脉区递减,大部分地区受到自然条件的限制,人居环境中高级适宜区面积最少,占全研究区面积的1.04%,较适宜区占5.95%,中等适宜区占21.13%、难适宜区和不适宜区占71.68%,表明自然环境基础很恶劣,生态环境相当脆弱。因此,开展和田地区人居环境适宜性评价研究,对干旱区生态环境保护具有现实意义。     

基于情景模拟的天津市滨海新区2020年暴雨内涝风险评估

基于多灾种复合动态风险评估理论,依据滨海新区2020年人口规划、土地利用规划以及社会经济发展计划,根据地面沉降和海平面上升预测结果设计了最不利、适中和最理想化三种情景;在此基础上,自行开发了基于GIS的洪水淹没区计算模块,模拟计算不同重现期暴雨内涝的淹没范围、淹没深度及淹没损失。结果表明:2020年,发生1 000 a一遇、200 a一遇和50 a一遇暴雨时,在最不利的情景一下:天津市滨海新区分别将有32.73%,29.34%和26.01%的土地不同程度受淹,受淹人口分别为338万、305万和264万,淹没损失分别达220.89亿元、181.39亿元和139.12亿元。     

中国的荒漠化及其防治策略

中国作为世界上受荒漠化影响最为严重的国家之一,旱地面积约332万km2(占国土面积的34.6％,包括干旱区、半干旱区和亚湿润干旱区),其中超过262万km2归属联合国防治荒漠化公约定义的“荒漠化土地”;主要分布在全国18个省、区、市.超过4亿人生活在荒漠化地区,每年因荒漠化造成的直接经济损失超过640亿元.中国治沙的实践可以追溯到20世纪50年代.特别是最近30年,先后通过“三北防护林”工程(1978年启动)、全国防沙治沙工程(1990年启动)、环京津风沙源治理工程和退耕还林还草工程(2000年启动)等一系列国家级生态治理工程的实施,以年均0.024％ GDP的投入,治理和修复了大约20％的荒漠化土地.目前,以现有技术评估,可治理的沙化土地约有50×104 km2.考虑到全球变暖的影响,预测未来50年需要治理的荒漠化土地面积大致在55×104-100×104 km2之间.若按照每年1.5×104-2.2×104 km2的治理速度,大约需要45 -70年之久.规划安排到2015年治理完成22×104 km2,到2030年治理面积新增33×104 kim2,到2050年治理完成45×104 km2.基于国家生态修复投资战略的总体安排,未来防沙治沙决策应从以下四个方面着眼:一是强化多部门协作的综合治理;二是确立优先治理区,并在适当地方建立“生态特区”;三是改变投资模式,由目前政府直接投资植树改为投资买林、买绿;四是完善土地承包制度(70年权属不变)和实行生态补偿.     

基于GIS的人居环境自然适宜性研究——以关中—天水经济区为例

选取地形、气候、水文、植被等自然因子,建立1 km×1 km栅格单元的人居环境基础数据库,构建了基于人居环境指数的关中-天水经济区人居环境自然适宜性评价模型,采用GIS技术,定量评价了该地区的人居环境自然适宜性,揭示了关中-天水经济区人居环境的自然格局与地域特征.研究表明:关中-天水经济区人居环境指数整体呈现由东南向西北递减趋势,人居环境指数可以综合反映区域人居环境的自然适宜程度;关-天地区人口明显集中分布于人居环境适宜程度较高的地区.评价结果显示,关-天地区人居环境-般适宜区和比较适宜区面积最大,接近全区总面积的95.09%,相应人口最多,占全区总人口的96.19%.     

北宋中期耕地面积及其空间分布格局重建(英文)

To understand historical human-induced land cover change and its climatic effects, it is necessary to create historical land use datasets with explicit spatial information. Using the taxes-cropland area and number of families compiled from historical documents, we esti-mated the real cropland area and populations within each Lu (a province-level political region in the Northern Song Dynasty) in the mid-Northern Song Dynasty (AD1004-1085). The es-timations were accomplished through analyzing the contemporary policies of tax, population and agricultural development. Then, we converted the political region-based cropland area to geographically explicit grid cell-based fractional cropland at the cell size of 60 km by 60 km. The conversion was based on calculating cultivation suitability of each grid cell using the topographic slope, altitude and population density as the independent variables. As a result, the total area of cropland within the Northern Song territory in the 1070s was estimated to be about 720 million mu (Chinese area unit, 1 mu = 666.7 m2), of which 40.1% and 59.9% oc-curred in the north and south respectively. The population was estimated to be about 87.2 million, of which 38.7% and 61.3% were in the north and south respectively, and per capita cropland area was about 8.2 mu. The national mean reclamation ratio (i.e. ratio of cropland area to total land area; RRA hereafter for short) was bout 16.6%. The plain areas, such as the North China Plain, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Guanzhong Plain, plains surrounding the Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake and Sichuan Basin, had a higher RRA, being mostly over 40%; while the hilly and mountainous areas, such as south of Nanling Mountains, the southwest regions (excluding the Chengdu Plain), Loess Plateau and south-east coastal regions, had a lower RRA, being less than 20%. Moreover, RRA varied with topographic slope and altitude. In the areas of low altitude (≤250 m), middle altitude (250-100 m) and high altitude (1000-3500 m), there were 443 million, 215 million and 64 million mu of cropland respectively and their regional mean RRAs were 27.5%, 12.6% and 7.2% respectively. In the areas of flat slope, gentle slope, medium slope and steep slope, there were 116 million, 456 million, 144 million and 2 million mu of cropland respectively and their regional mean RRAs were 34.6%, 20.7%, 8.5% and 2.3% respectively.