Abstract
Desertification is one of the major challenges facing humanity. However, there is no effective way to effectively control desertification. China is experiencing serious desertification, and to alleviate this trend, China has implemented a series of major ecological projects since 1978 and has achieved good results. Remote sensing can record changes in surface processes over a long period of time and can play an active role in desertification monitoring and governance. However, there is no systematic remote sensing monitoring method for desertification. In response to this problem, this paper takes a demonstration and reconstruction project of the United Nations desertification in the Kubuqi Desert in China as an example. By using the 30-year time series Landsat data, we propose a new remote sensing monitoring method for the impact of ecological restoration engineering of desert to monitor the spatial and temporal evolution pattern of the Kubuqi Desert in the past 30 years and the impact of the human ecological reconstruction project on the location of land use types in the Kubuqi Desert. In addition, the method analyzes the impact of the Kubuqi Desert Reconstruction Project on the local ecological environment changes from time and space perspectives. The results show the following: (1) During 1991–2017, the Kubuqi Desert Reconstruction Project improved the cultivated land, afforestation, and the Yellow River Drainage to control the sand and in conjunction with other renovation projects improved the ecological environment. The area of the sandy land decreased from 45.76% to 28.66%, while the areas of the waters wetland and artificial forest (shrub), urban construction land, and agricultural land increased; (2) There are obvious time and space differences in the transformation, and the vegetation cover increases as a whole. The obvious change areas are mainly distributed in the riverbank irrigation area of the Yellow River section of the Kubuqi Desert and the torrents such as the Maobula Kong, Buer Taigou and Heilaigou and other mountain gully areas. The relevant experience of the Kubuqi Desert Reconstruction Project in China has important reference significance for world desertification transformation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cai B (2009). Study on the monitoring and evaluation of the three north shelterbelt project. In: Beijing: chemical industry press.(in Chinese)
Chen C, Park T, Wang X, Piao S, Xu B, Chaturvedi RK, Fuchs R, Brovkin V, Ciais P, Fensholt R, Tømmervik H, Bala G, Zhu Z, Nemani RR, Myneni RB (2019) China and India lead in greening of the world through land-use management[J]. Nature sustainability 2(2):122–129
Cui Y (2013) Interpretation and Dynamic Analysis in Desertification–A Case Study of Kubuqi Desert. Applied Mechanics and Materials. Vol. 295. Trans Tech Publications
Cao Z, Li Y, Liu Y, Chen Y, Wang Y (2018) When and where did the loess plateau turn “green”? Analysis of the tendency and breakpoints of the normalized difference vegetation index[J]. Land Degrad Dev 29(1):162–175
Gong Z, Kawamura K, Ishikawa N, Goto M, Wulan T, Alateng D, Yin T, Ito Y (2015) MODIS normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and vegetation phenology dynamics in the Inner Mongolia grassland[J]. Solid Earth 6(4):1185–1194
Guo C, Han Z, Li A, Zhong S (2017) Typical model of ecological governance, development and utilization of Kubuqi Desert [J]. Journal of Northwest Normal University (Natural Science Edition) 53(01):112–118
Jian G, Tao W, Bangshuai H, Junxi S, Xinquan L (2008) A study on the dynamic change process of desertification in maowusu sandy land and its surrounding area. Chinese desert 28(6):1017–1021
Ju CY, Cai TJ, Yang XH (2008) Topography-based modeling to estimate percent vegetation cover in semi-arid Mu Us Sandy Land, China. Comput Electron Agric 64:133e139
John R, Chen J, Kim Y, Ou-yang ZT, Xiao J, Park H (2015) Differentiating anthropogenic modification and precipitation-driven change on vegetation productivity on the Mongolian Plateau. Landsc Ecol 1e20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-015-0261-x
Karnieli A, Qin Z, Wu B, Panov N, Yan F (2014) Spatio-temporal dynamics of land-use and land-cover in the mu us sandy land, China, using the change vector analysis technique. Remote Sens 6(10):9316–9339
Kubo S, Hashida K, Makino R, Magara K, Kenzo T, Kato A, Aorigele (2013) Chemical composition of desert willow (Salix psammophila) grown in the Kubuqi Desert, Inner Mongolia, China: bark extracts associated with environmental adaptability. J Agric Food Chem 61(50):12226–12231
Li S (2007) World’s important ecological engineering. In: Beijing: science press.(in Chinese)
Li Y, Cao Z, Long H, Liu Y, Li W (2017a) Dynamic analysis of ecological environment combined with land cover and NDVI changes and implications for sustainable urban–rural development: the case of mu us Sandy land, China[J]. J Clean Prod 142:697–715
Li Y, Cao Z, Long H, Liu Y, Li W (2017b) Dynamic analysis of ecological environment combined with land cover and NDVI changes and implications for sustainable urban–rural development: the case of mu us Sandy land, China[J]. J Clean Prod 142:697–715
Li S, Liang W, Fu B et al (2016) Vegetation changes in recent large-scale ecological restoration projects and subsequent impact on water resources in China's loess plateau[J]. Sci Total Environ 569:1032–1039
Runnström MC (2003) Rangeland development of the mu us Sandy land in semiarid China: an analysis using Landsat and NOAA remote sensing data[J]. Land Degrad Dev 14(2):189–202
Roy DP, Ju J, Lewis P, Schaaf C, Gao F, Hansen M, Lindquist E (2008) Multi-temporal MODIS–Landsat data fusion for relative radiometric normalization, gap filling, and prediction of Landsat data[J]. Remote Sens Environ 112(6):3112–3130
Su Y, Xue F, Xu Bin, Hao T (2007) A new model of comprehensive management of Kubuqi desert zoning [J]. Inner Mongolia Forestry. (12):8–9
Wang J, Liu J, Shao Q, Liu R, Fan J, Chen Z (2009) Spatial-temporal patterns of net primary productivity for 1988-2004 based on GLOPEM-CEVSA model in the" Three-River headwaters" region of Qinghai Province. China 33:254–269
Wang L, Wang B, Zhu J (2000) Forestry ecological engineering. In: Beijing: China forestry publishing house.(in Chinese)
Wu B, Ci LJ (2002) Landscape change and desertification development in the mu us Sandland, northern China[J]. J Arid Environ 50(3):429–444
Wang JY, Liu YS, Liu ZG (2013) Spatio-temporal patterns of cropland conversion in response to the “grain for green project” in China's loess hilly region. Remote Sens 5:5642e5661
Xiao W, Huang Z, Tang W (2012). Monitoring and evaluation of ecological benefits of National Land Conversion Program in three gorges reservoir area. In: Beijing: Science Press(in Chinese)
Xu X (1992) Integrated evaluation on synthetically efficiency of forests. In: Beijing: China forestry publishing house.(in Chinese)
Yu X, Gu J, Yue Y (2010) Benefit evaluation on forestry ecological projects. In: Science Press, Beijing, China
Zhang GL, Dong JW, Xiao XL, Hu ZM, Sheldon S (2012) Effectiveness of ecological restoration projects in Horqin Sandy Land, China based on SPOT-VGT NDVI data. Ecol Eng 38(1):20e29
Funding
Funded projects: Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS:2017089.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dong, X., Chen, Z., Wu, M. et al. Long time series of remote sensing to monitor the transformation research of Kubuqi Desert in China. Earth Sci Inform 13, 795–809 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12145-020-00467-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12145-020-00467-4