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Arid Land Geography ›› 2021, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (1): 197-207.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000–6060.2021.01.21

• Earth Information Sciences • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Desertification analysis based on grid accumulation method in Tarim Basin, China

LIU Chang1,2(),LI Chengzhi1,2,3(),LI Shenghui1,2,FU Xiaolei1,2,SHI Qingdong1,2,3   

  1. 1. Institute of Arid Ecology & Environment of Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, Xinjiang, China
    2. College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, Xinjiang, China
    3. Key Laboratory of Oasis Ecology Ministry of Education, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, Xinjiang, China
  • Received:2019-10-03 Revised:2020-04-20 Online:2021-01-25 Published:2021-03-09
  • Contact: Chengzhi LI E-mail:1781336744qq.com;xdlichengzhi@sina.com

Abstract:

Currently, sandy desertification is one of the most serious environmental problems worldwide. It is also the most crucial ecological environmental problem in the arid areas in western China. The Tarim Basin, located in northwest China, is extremely arid, with little precipitation, high evaporation, and sparse vegetation. This basin includes the second largest flowing desert, and the problem of sandy desertification is extremely serious. In this paper, the desertification was monitored yearly using the data that were synthesized from the monthly data of MODIS-NDVI 1 km from 2000 to 2018 using the maximum synthesis method in the Tarim Basin. On the basis of the grid accumulation method, change rate, change trend, and spatial distribution, the causes of the sandy desertification were analyzed in the Tarim Basin. The results showed that: (1) the process of sandy desertification from 2000 to 2018 in the Tarim Basin fluctuated annually, and if the deviation calculation method had been used to monitor the desertification with several remote sensing images, it would have obtained the wrong results. (2) The grid accumulation method can quantitatively analyze the change rate, evolution trend, and spatial characteristics of sandy desertification, and the method is suitable for the analysis of the process of the interannual fluctuation. (3) The new method, combining the grid accumulation method with the transfer matrix analysis method, was presented. This method was used to quantitatively obtain the transfer path, transfer quantity, and transfer spatial distribution of the sandy desertification in the Tarim Basin. It revealed that the transfer path of the sandy desertification in the Tarim Basin changed from extremely severe desertification to severe desertification, to moderate desertification, to mild desertification, and to non-desertification. Generally, the desertification trend in the Tarim Basin was from extremely severe desertification to non-desertification. The improved areas were distributed in the oases, but the deteriorated areas were mainly located in the middle reaches of the Tarim River and lower reaches of the Qarqan River. (4) The causes of the desertification were quantitatively analyzed using the method that combined the land-use types and grid accumulation method. This method found that the most important cause of desertification was human activities, the main type of degradation was the degradation of the grassland, and the main types of improvement were those of forest land and cultivated land. This research provided a simple and easy method for the dynamic monitoring of desertification. Its results can accurately show the change rate, evolution trend, spatial distribution, and causes of land desertification, of which accurate information is necessary to control the desertification of the land.

Key words: sandy desertification, grid accumulation method, transfer matrix method, dynamic change, causes of desertification