Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques to Study Soil Degradation Processes in North Shaanxi Province, China

Satellite image data and thematic map data were used to provide comprehensive views of surface-bound conditions such as soil and vegetation degradation. The current work applies a computerized parametric methodology, developed by FAO, UNEP and UNESCO to assess and evaluate soil degradation at 1 : 250 000 mapping scale. The study area is located in the arid and semi-arid zone of the northern part of Shaanxi Province in China, a region with considerable agricultural potential; Landsat TM images were utilized to provide recent data on land cover and use of the area. ARC/INFO and Arc-View softwares were used to manage and manipulate thematic data, to process satellite images, and tabular data source. ER mapper software is utilized to derive the normalized difference vegetation index (ND VI) values while field data to estimate soil erodibility (SE) factor. A system is established for rating soil parameters, slope, climate factor and human factor activity. The rating values serve as inputs into a modified universal soil loss equation (USLE) to calculate the present state and risk for soil degradation processes, namely soil wind erosion. The produced maps and tabular data show the risk and the present status of different soil degradation processes. The study area, in general, is exposed to high risk of wind erosion and high hazards of water erosion. Several desertification maps were produced, which reflect the desertification types persisting in the study area. Wind erosion, water erosion, vegetation degradation,physical degradation and salinization are the basic desertification maps, and others are combinations of these basic maps. In terms of statistic analysis, 33.75 % of the total land area (120. 330 0 ha) is considered as sand or sand dune, and not included in our analysis of desertification. About 29. 41% of the total land area has slight or moderate desertification and 37. 465 % is facing severe desertification.     

Textural characteristics and genesis of the aeolian sediments in the Kuwaiti desert

Several types of aeolian deposits have been recognized in Kuwait: (a) smooth sand sheets that resemble desert floor sand, (b) immobile sands that include rugged vegetated sand sheets and wadi fill deposits, and (c) mobile sands that form active sand sheets and sand dunes. Simple size frequency curves illustrate the genetic relationship between the various aeolian sediment types. The four size parameters, namely, mean size, sorting, skewness and kurtosis, were calculated. Scatter plot diagrams of sorting versus mean size and sorting versus kurtosis are effective in differentiating smooth sand sheet deposits from dune sands. Active sand sheet deposits can also be recognized because they are usually located between the two end members–smooth sand sheets and dune sands. Size parameters change with location regardless of their types. Coarsening and positive skewness usually increase downwind. Mineralogical and textural characteristics of the aeolian deposits in Kuwait revealed that they are mostly derived from the lower Mesopotamian muddy flood plain deposits, the sand fraction of the Al-Dibdibba gravelly deposits and the disintegrated material from calcretic and gypcretic duricrusts. Distribution of depositional and deflational areas indicates that the northern desert of Kuwait is characterized by a positive sand budget, whereas the southern desert has a negative sand budget.     

利用“3S”技术检测我国北方气候变化的植被响应

本文利用“3S”技术,结合气象观测资料,发现反映区域植被覆盖特征的遥感植被指数变化基本上与器测温度和降水变化相一致,显示出我国北方植被对气候短尺度变化响应敏感。荒漠化总体加剧深受气候变化的影响,人类活动起着相对加强或削弱的作用。     

中国北方沙漠化的若干问题

随着经济、社会的发展,沙漠化问题对自然环境和社会发展的影响愈来愈深刻,已得到国际社会的普遍重视,作为沙漠化问题极其严重的国家,我国在对沙漠化的认识及治理上,经过多年工作取得了一些成就.本文根据已有的经验和研究成果,就中国北方沙漠化的成因、发展过程、灾害评价及防治机理等方面做一简单探讨,以便为今后更好地开展沙漠化研究工作起一定的参考作用.     

Risk assessment of water soil erosion in upper basin of Miyun Reservoir,Beijing, China

This research selected water soil erosion indicators (land cover, vegetation cover, slope) to assess the risk of soil erosion, ARCMAP GIS ver.9.0 environments and ERDAS ver.9.0 were used to manage and process satellite images and thematic tabular data. Landsat TM images in 2003 were used to produce land/cover maps of the study area based on visual interpreting method and derived vegetation cover maps, and the relief map at the scale of 1:50,000 to calculate the slope gradient maps. The area of water soil erosion was classified into six grades by an integration of slope gradients, land cover types, and vegetation cover fraction. All the data were integrated into a cross-tabular format to carry out the grid-based analysis of soil erosion risk. Results showed that the upper basin of Miyun Reservoir, in general, is exposed to a moderate risk of soil erosion, there is 715,848 ha of land suffered from water soil erosion in 2003, occupied 46.62% of total area, and most of the soil erosion area is on the slight and moderate risk, occupied 45.60 and 47.58% of soil erosion area, respectively.     

Monitoring land use/land cover change using multi-temporal Landsat satellite images in an arid environment: a case study of El-Arish,Egypt

Environment in arid conditions is dynamic and needs more investigation to understand the complexity of change. This spatiotemporal study will help to assess and monitor the land use and land cover change in the arid region of El-Arish area, where the climate and human activities are the major threats to rural development. In the past 11 years, dramatic changes of environment have been recorded in case studies. The post-classification comparison method was used to observe the changes using multi-temporal satellite images which were captured in the years 1999, 2001, 2005, and 2010. The overall accuracy of the produced thematic images was assessed regarding to the quantity and allocation disagreements. Five classes were defined in this investigation: bare soil, vegetation, urban, sand dunes, and fertile soil. From the year 1999 to 2010, fertile soil was increased by 13 %. Bare soil class occupied more than 50 % of land in the case study during for over a decade. From year 1999 to 2010, vegetation cover witnessed a dramatic increase. Soil and water management are the keys of land development and positive land use and land cover dynamics. Changing agricultural policies of using the available water resources are needed in the case study to prevent severe food shortage in the future.     

Assessment of sand encroachment in Kuwait using GIS

Assessment of sand encroachment in Kuwait using Geographical Information System (GIS) technology has been formulated as a Multi-Criteria Decision Making problem. The Delphi method and Analytical Hierarchy Process were adopted as evaluating techniques, in which experts’ judgments were analyzed for objectively estimating and weighting control factors. Seven triggering factors, depicted in the form of maps, were identified and ordered according to their priority. These factors are (1) wind energy; (2) surface sediment; (3) vegetation density; (4) land use; (5) drainage density; (6) topographic change and (7) vegetation type. The factor maps were digitized, converted to raster data and overlaid to determine their possible spatial relationships. Applying a susceptibility model, a map of sand encroachment susceptibility in Kuwait was developed. The map showed that the areas of very high and high sand encroachment susceptibility are located within the main corridor of sand pathway that coincides with the northwesterly dominant wind direction.     

额济纳绿洲近20年来土地覆被变化

土地利用/土地覆被变化研究是近年来全球环境变化研究的焦点之一。根据黑河下游额济纳绿洲土地生态分类,利用1982年与2000年2期TM遥感数据对比和野外实地调查,采用景观生态空间分布格局分析方法,分为河岸乔木林、河岸灌草林、荒漠稀疏灌丛、荒漠稀疏草地、河道与水域、盐碱化土地、城镇、戈壁、流动沙丘和剥蚀地山丘陵, 从各类土地分布面积变化和类型转移趋向与幅度两个方面,分析了额济纳绿洲20年来土地覆被变化。结果表明：①土地覆被类型结构发生了较大变化,河岸乔木林面积萎缩了0.97％、斑块数减小了376,而河岸灌草林增加了0.92％,数量减小1 316;而％LAND指数荒漠稀疏灌丛由4.49％增加到5.65％,由于中游来水量的锐减,河道和水域的斑块数由40个减少到6个,％LAND指数减小了0.15％。与此同时流动沙丘％LAND指数增加了0.42％。②近20年来以胡杨为主的河岸乔木林和荒漠稀疏草地减小了45.02％和14.55％,相应地以柽柳为主的河岸稀疏灌草地和荒漠稀疏灌丛增加了35.03％和25.88％;河岸乔灌林向河岸灌草林景观转移概率为45.95％,向荒漠稀疏灌丛和稀疏草地转移了0.78%和3.01％,向戈壁转移了10.87%;河岸灌草林景观类型向河岸乔灌林转移8.06％,向稀疏灌丛和稀疏草地转移10.95%和19.64%,向戈壁转移11.88％;③额济纳绿洲具有从河岸乔木→河岸灌草地→荒漠稀疏灌丛快速演化的趋势。     

基于多源数据融合方法的中国1 km土地覆盖分类制图

精确的全球及区域土地覆盖数据是陆地表层过程研究的重要基础。在集成研究兴起和多种数据并存的背景下,利用多源信息融合技术进行大尺度土地覆盖制图具有重要的现实意义。证据理论清楚地表达了由于不确定和不完全信息所带来的对命题认识的“无知”,能够确定相应的假设在目前的认知与知识状态下的确定、不确定和“无知”程度,是多源数据决策融合的重要方法。基于证据理论,将2000年中国1∶10万土地利用数据、中国植被图集（1∶100万）的植被型分类、中国1∶10万冰川图、中国1∶[KG-*2]100万沼泽湿地图和MODIS 2001年土地覆盖产品（MOD12Q1）进行了融合,最终基于最大信任度原则进行决策,产生了新的、IGBP分类系统的2000年中国土地覆盖数据。新的土地覆盖数据在保持了中国土地利用数据的总体精度的同时,补充了中国植被图中对植被类型及植被季相的信息,更新了中国湿地图,增加了中国冰川图最新信息,使分类系统更加通用。     

Spatio-temporal land cover changes in a semi-arid watershed: Central India

Land use/land cover change is a global phenomenon which reflects natural resources degradation and/or utilization. Remote sensing and GIS have been widely used to monitor such changes at watershed level. The present study evaluates the LU/LC change during 1989 - 2001 in a semi-arid watershed of central India. Geocoded satellite data of 1989 and 2001 on 1:50,000 scale, were visually interpreted to prepare thematic maps which were later digitized using ArcGIS softwares. The analysis shows that vast tracts of cultivated land have become uncultivated and at some places even converted to wasteland. However, the land under dense forest and open forest has decreased due to expansion of built-up land and other anthropogenic activities. Increase in area of uncultivated land, wasteland and decrease in cultivated land and open scrub is also supported by rainfall analysis, which shows a declining trend and a fall of 186.93 mm in average annual rainfall for 1986-2003 period. The change detection map prepared using land use/land cover of 1989 and 2001 as inputs shows that out of the total geographical area of the watershed, 25.78% of the watershed area has seen a change from one land use category to another, however rest 74.22% has remained unchanged.     

Studying surface properties of desert pavements and their relation to soil properties and plant growth in Hajaligholi playa,Iran

As we know, desert pavement is a superficial feature from wind erosion widespread throughout arid lands and plays a dynamic role in geomorphic, hydrologic, and ecologic processes. In these regions, the plant cover is low or inexistent. Desert pavement is usually covered with large, small, and angular stones. Spatial distribution of stones at the surface is reflecting rainfall distribution at the land surface. Our objective in this study was to determine the relationship between the surface physical characteristics of desert pavement (meter scale), water movement, subsoil, and plant cover. The density and type of cover in land surface are also investigated. For this purpose, two different areas (Hajaligholi playa, Damghan) with different geology were selected. In each region, profiles were dogged. In site one, six different profiles were dogged, and each profile samples in different horizons (0–10, 10–20, 20–30, 30–40, and 40–50 cm) were being taken. In site two, three profiles were dogged, and the same horizon samples were being taken. The type and density of vegetation were determined. Finally, two sites were being compared. The results showed that strong relationship is between the stone cover, soil genesis, and plant distribution. Physicochemical properties (particle sorting, stones rates, electrical conductivity, pH, and gypsum) highly depend on the upland geological characteristics of the region. Also, soil structure and salt concentration have strong relationship with stone component. The distribution and density of vegetation show strong linkage with these properties. Also, in sites with desert pavements and dense plant cover, soils are protected and, thus, reduce desertification (loss fertile soils).     

Response of vegetation pattern to different landform and water-table depth in Hailiutu River basin,Northwestern China

The spatial distribution of vegetation pattern and vegetation cover fraction (VCF) was quantified with remote sensing data in the Hailiutu River basin, a semiarid area in North China. The moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer normalized different vegetation index (NDVI) values for 4 years from 2008 to 2011 and field observation data were used to assess the impact of climate factors, landform and depth to water table on vegetation distribution at large scale. In the VCF map, 74 % of the study area is covered with low and low–medium density vegetation, 24 % of the catchment is occupied by medium–high and high-density vegetation, and 2 % of area is bare soil. The relationship between NDVI and climate factors indicated that NDVI is correlated with relative humidity and precipitation. In the river catchment, NDVI increases gradually from landform of sand dune, eolian sand soil to river valley; 92.4 % of low NDVI from 0.15 to 0.3 is mostly distributed in sand dunes and the vegetation type is shrubs. Crops, shrubs and some dry willows dominate in eolian sand soil and 82.5 % of the NDVI varies between 0.2 and 0.35. In the river valley, 70.4 % of NDVI ranges between 0.25 and 0.4, and grass, dry willow and some crops are the main plants. Shrubs development of Korshinsk peashrub and Salix psammophila are dependent on groundwater by analyzing NDVI response to groundwater depth. However, NDVI of Artemisia desertorum had little sensitivity to groundwater.     

Land classification of part of Thrace (East Rhodope) by visual interpretation of MSS images of first and second generation landsat images

The aim of this investigation was the classification of East Rhodope mountain ridge area and the surrounding hills and plains into mapping units by visual interpretation of 1:500,000 paper print enlargements of MSS false colour composites (bands 1, 2 and 4) of LANDSAT-4 and MSS (band 7) of LANDSAT-1, supported by limited field observation and background information available from earlier surveys and maps. The basic mapping units used in the present study was the land systems (developed by CSIRO in Australia) because they are easily recognizable on LANDSAT images by their destinctive combination of physiography, soils and vegetation.The twenty various land systems occurring in the study area, such as high/low mountains with smooth/sharp summits, nearly flat/undulated plains, slightly/strongly dissected hilles etc., were defined and mapped on small scale of 1:500,000. They are of considerable interest because they provide the framework for production of the same scale geological and geo-morphological maps, erosion studies, soil, vegetation and other thematic mapping for natural resources surveys, because LANDSAT images reveal details of terrain and microrelief that can never be reproduced on a topographic map. Also this land system map may modify or add to earlier small scale thematic maps (geology, soils and vegetation/forestry maps) produced in the past by other techniques.     

Mapping the Pliocene Clay Deposits Using Remote Sensing and its Impact on the Urbanization Developments in Egypt: Case Study,East Sohag Area

In the current study, Thematic Mapper image was compiled along with field and laboratory investigation results to map the Pliocene clay deposits. These deposits have high swelling potential; consequently they will have a negative impact on the urbanization expansion surrounding the flood plain zone (Low desert zone) in Egypt. Principle Component and Minimum Noise Fraction techniques with the help of supervised classification were successful in the mapping of these deposits. The interpretation shows that the Pliocene clay deposits occupy most of the wadis terraces and part of the wadis floors, and sometimes they covered by Quaternary deposits (1–5 m of sand and gravel). The physio-chemical characteristics of these deposits indicate that the Pliocene clay ranges from silty clay to clay with small amounts of sand. Laboratory analysis (Atterberg limits, saturation degree, and cation exchange capacity) indicate the swelling characteristics of the Pliocene clay. Different classification systems were applied and all reveal the expansive nature of this soil, which should be taken into account for future development in the area.     

Wind erosion hazard assessment of the Mongolian Plateau using FCM and GIS techniques

The most serious environmental problems of the Mongolian Plateau are land degradation and sand storms caused by wind erosion, but the evaluation of wind erosion at regional scales has been a difficult process in wind erosion research. In this study, fuzzy c-means clustering (FCM) was used to assess the spatial pattern of wind erosion hazard on the Mongolian Plateau. By fuzzy clustering four main wind erosion factors (vegetation cover, average degree of land surface relief, degree of soil dryness and intensity of wind energy), wind erosion hazard was classified into six grades. Results show that FCM can effectively integrate related information between wind erosion and environmental factors, which provides the basis for predictive mapping of wind erosion hazard. Spatial patterns of wind erosion hazard indicate a gradual trend of increasing hazard in the Mongolian Plateau from east to west. Similar patterns were also found in NDVI and soil dryness, indicating that soil moisture and vegetation are the most important factors in the formation of wind erosion hazard. In addition, the distribution of different levels of wind erosion hazard is basically consistent with the regional distribution of landscape vegetation types in the Mongolian Plateau.     

Study on Water Internal Recycle Process and Mechanism in Typical Mountain Areas of Inland Basins,Northwest China: Progress and Challenge

The water resource and its change of mountainous area are very important to the oasis economic system and ecosystem in the arid areas of northwest China. Accurately understanding the water transfer and circulation process among vegetation, soil, and atmosphere over different hydrological units in mountainous areas such as snow and ice, cold desert, forest and grassland is the basic scientific issue of water research in cold and arid regions, which is also the basis of water resource delicacy management and regulation. There are many research results on the hydrological function of different land covers in mountain areas, basin hydrological processes, however, there are only very limited studies on the water internal recycle at basin scale. The quantitative study on the mechanism of water internal recycle is still at the starting stage, which faces many challenges. The key project “Study on water internal recycle processes and mechanism in typical mountain areas of inland basins, Northwest China” funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China will select the Aksu River and Shule River Basin, which have better observation basis, as study area. The internal mechanism of moisture transfer and exchange process of different land cover and atmosphere, the internal mechanism of water cycle in the basin, and water transfer paths in atmosphere will be studied through enhancing runoff plot experiments on different land cover, analyzing the mechanism of water vapor transfer and exchange between different land covers in the watershed by isotope tracing on the water vapor flux of vegetation water, soil moisture and atmospheric moisture, improving the algorithms of remote sensing inversion and ground verification on land surface evapotranspiration on different land cover, and analyzing the water vapor flux from reanalysis data, and the coupling modeling of regional climate model and land surface process model. At last, the effect of different land cover in hydrological process of mountain area, and the impact of land cover on downstream oasis will be systematically analyzed.     

云南省土地石漠化特征初步研究

云南全省石漠化土地面积占国土面积的2．2％。岩溶地区石漠化土地面积占区域国土面积的4．1％，占岩溶面积的7．92％。近25年来石漠化土地面积增长速度约147.5km^2/a。分布特点是：（1）与碳酸盐岩地层的分布相一致，是强岩溶化地区或剧烈水土流失区；（2）岩溶区相对集中连片分布；（3）与区域性新构造运动、地貌演化密切相关；（4）在微地貌及景观方面有地区性特征。主要危害是：（1）植被及土壤同时丧失，土地产出率下降，环境容量减小，最后导致人类及一切生物的生存环境劣变；（2）环境对降雨的调蓄能力差，水资源环境恶化，可有效利用的水资源减少；（3）旱、涝灾、水土流失、泥沙淤积等自然灾害频繁，直接危害人类生命及财产。防治对策是：科学规划、合理开发和调蓄表层岩溶水资源；整治土地，改善土地利用结构；因地制宜培植当地名特优物种，发展生态农业；控制人口数量，提高人口素质；开展生态恢复性建设示范工程；组织系统的调查、实验及工程防治研究工作。     

黑河流域陆地-大气相互作用研究的几点思考

陆地和大气之间是相互作用、相互影响的,不仅陆面分布与地表过程对大气变化有着响应过程,而且陆面物理过程、地表特征分布对大气过程也有着重要影响。我国西北地区地形分布极不均匀,是水资源变化和气候变化的敏感区与脆弱地区。这里,由于海拔高度起伏造就了以水为主线的上游山区冰雪、冻土—中游森林、绿洲—下游戈壁荒漠的多个自然景观带共存的内陆河流域,是开展陆—气相互作用研究的理想场所。文章集中黑河流域水循环过程、冰雪/冻土与大气相互作用、降水异质性、人类活动影响以及尺度等问题,阐述了流域研究现状以及研究热点,指出发挥各学科优势,将大尺度的大气过程与中间尺度和小尺度的陆面水文/生态过程结合,建立流域尺度大气—水文—生态过程真正的双向耦合模式,不仅研究气候变化对陆面水文、生态的影响,同时探讨陆面小尺度过程对大气的反馈机理,探索流域尺度的水循环过程和驱动机理,为水资源合理利用提供理论基础。