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Arid Land Geography ›› 2020, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (4): 1023-1032.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2020.04.17

• Earth Information Sciences • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Vegetation coverage monitoring in the Central Asian countries using multi-temporal Landsat images

WANG Hua1,2, YANG Qian-peng1, TIAN Yun-jie1, GUO Shan-chuan3, TANG Peng-fei3   

  1. 1 Nyingchi meteorological service. Nyingchi 860000,Xizang,China;
    2 College of Resources and Environmental Sciences,Nanjing Agricultural University,Nanjing 210095,Jiangsu,China;
    3 School of Geography and Ocean Science,Nanjing University,Nanjing 210023,Jiangsu,China
  • Received:2019-06-19 Revised:2020-03-20 Online:2020-07-25 Published:2020-11-18

Abstract: Central Asian regions with a typical temperate desert as well as grassland environment experience several ecological environmental problems such as water shortages and land degradation. Particularly in recent decades,the ecological disturbances caused by climate change and human activity have led to more consideration being given to environmental protection. As the most essential producer of an ecosystem,vegetation coverage status can directly affect an ecosystem’s function and structure. Therefore,to align with the sustainable development goal of the “Green Silk Road” ,there is a need to conduct vegetation coverage monitoring with wide-range and long-term abilities. In view of this,12 periods of vegetation coverage in the Central Asian regions from 1993 to 2018 were estimated using the Google Earth Engine geospatial data cloud computing platform from Landsat 5 together with Landsat 8 remote sensing data sets. To start,the research area boundary was used as the selected condition to filter the Landsat images. Through data preprocessing,including a cloud mask,filter,and split,we acquired 12 high-quality remote sensing images over the Central Asian regions. Then,we calculated the normalized difference vegetation index using the NIR and RED bands of the selected images. The dimidiate pixel model was used to estimate the vegetation coverage,followed by a linear regression analysis. The results showed as follows:(1) The overall level of vegetation coverage in Central Asia was low but had significant spatial heterogeneity. (2) The vegetation coverage change trend of most regions in Central Asia between 1993 and 2018 was relatively stable. The vegetation coverage over the Kazakhstan Hills and Fergana Valley areas showed an increasing trend,while the vegetation coverage in the Ural River Basin and Syr Darya River Basin areas showed a negative trend. (3) In terms of the time series characteristics of the vegetation coverage,the total vegetation coverage increased by 3% in the Central Asian regions between 1993 and 2018,during which the vegetation coverage in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan increased by 3.96% and 5.86%,respectively. (4) The bare soil area showed a retreating trend,and its total area decreased by 259 000 km2. (5) Lastly,the low vegetation,middle vegetation,and high vegetation cover areas showed an oscillatory increase. Overall,this study combined remote sensing data with geographical cloud computing to monitor vegetation coverage on a regional scale in Central Asia to provide technical support and quantitative data for ecological assessment and succession analysis in Central Asia.

Key words: vegetation coverage monitoring, the Central Asian Regions, Google Earth Engine, multi-temporal Landsat images, NDVI