Landuse/landcover changes in Zhangye oasis of Hexi Corridor

Taking two false color composite Landsat 5 TM (Thematic Mapper) images of band 4,3,2 taken in 1995 and 2000 as data resources, this paper carried out study on LUCC of Zhangye oasis in recent five years by interpretation according to land resources classification system of 1:100,000 Resources and Environmental Database of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The results show that great changes have taken place in landuse/landcover in Zhangye oasis since 1995: (1) Changes of landuse structure show that cropland and land for urban construction and built-up area increased, on the contrary, water area and grassland decreased. These changes reflect the deterioration of eco-environment and the acceleration of urbanization, and also indicate the problems existing in the arrangement of water and land resources between the upper and lower reaches of the Heihe River. (2) Regional differences of landuse/landcover are evident, characterized by following aspects: in Sunan County located in Qilian Mountain area, unused land and grassland decreased, but cropland and land for urban construction and built-up area increased. In Minle and Shandan counties located in foothills, unused land, water area and cropland decreased, but grassland and land for urban construction and built-up area increased. In Zhangye City, Linze County and Gaotai County located in plain area of the middle reaches of the Heihe River, unused land, water area and grassland decreased, while woodland, cropland and land for urban construction and built-up area increased.