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Arid Land Geography ›› 2021, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (6): 1635-1643.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000–6060.2021.06.12

• Earth Surface Process • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Boundary scope and change of arid desert area in northwest China

Zulkar HAILIL(),ZHAO Tingning(),JIANG Qun’ou   

  1. College of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
  • Received:2021-02-24 Revised:2021-04-14 Online:2021-11-25 Published:2021-12-03
  • Contact: Tingning ZHAO E-mail:zulker@126.com;zhtning@bjfu.edu.cn

Abstract:

Starting from the qualitative description of arid desert areas in northwest China, a quantitative and precise boundary is formed based on the daily surface meteorological elements and monthly precipitation in Qinghai Province, Gansu Province, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and Tibet Autonomous Region in 1980—1995 and 2010—2019. The arid desert area in northwest China was determined, the potential evapotranspiration was calculated using the Penman-Monteith equation, and the spatial distribution of the wettability index was obtained. Finally, the average precipitation and wettability indexes were superimposed, and the boundaries of arid desert areas in the northwest were identified. The results showed that the arid desert areas range from Kunlun Mountains in the south to Altay Mountains in the north and the Helan Mountains in the west, except for the northern foot of Tianshan Mountains, Urumqi Oasis, Ili River Valley, and parts of Tacheng Prefecture. A comparison of the data of the two periods in the studied area clarified that the change in the scope of the arid desert area in northwest China is due to the obvious decrease in precipitation and potential evapotranspiration and the obvious increase in the area with a high humidity index. The dividing line of the arid region moved northward and the semiarid region increased evidently, and the arid desert region in northwest China was divided into districts and counties based on the results of the division and mountain system, providing data support for the exploitation and the utilization of resources and ecological restoration in the arid desert area of northwest China. This work is of great significance for regional refinement, exploitation, and utilization of resources; ecological restoration according to local conditions; the development of the northwest economy; and scientific research.

Key words: Penman-Monteith formula, boundary identification, change analysis, arid desert region of northwest China