An approach for desertification monitoring in Hulun Buir grassland of Inner Mongolia, China

Yuxia Zhu; Zhihao Qin; Bin Xu; Maofang Gao; Huan Pei

doi:10.1117/12.760762

26 July 2007 An approach for desertification monitoring in Hulun Buir grassland of Inner Mongolia, China

Yuxia Zhu, Zhihao Qin, Bin Xu, Maofang Gao, Huan Pei

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6752, Geoinformatics 2007: Remotely Sensed Data and Information; 675223 (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.760762
Event: Geoinformatics 2007, 2007, Nanjing, China

Abstract

Hulun Buir represents the best grassland in Inner Mongolia. Due to intensive anthropogenic activities especially unreasonable grazing, desertification has been an important environmental problem in the grassland. In the paper we intend to develop an applicable approach for desertification monitoring in the grassland. Since vegetation is the most essential factor of grassland and desertification actually implies the declination of vegetation in the grassland, an index indication desertification severity has been constructed from vegetation cover fraction. Using MODIS satellite data, we firstly computed NDVI and then computed vegetation cover rate in the grassland. The rate is consequently used to construct the desertification index (DI) for evaluation of desertification severity. Using precipitation and temperature data from 45 points, we validate the capability of DI in representing the severity of actual desertification in the grassland. The general accordance of precipitation and temperature with DI demonstrates the applicability of the proposed approach for desertification in the grassland. Using the approach, we analyzed the changes of desertification in the grassland in recent years. Results showed that desertification process in the grassland are accelerating in recent years, with rate of 1% annually. The acceleration of desertification implies that grassland ecosystem is under evolution of degradation in spite of rapid economic development in the region. Our study suggests that necessary measures should be urgently employed to protect the grassland from further desertification.

Citation Download Citation

Yuxia Zhu, Zhihao Qin, Bin Xu, Maofang Gao, and Huan Pei "An approach for desertification monitoring in Hulun Buir grassland of Inner Mongolia, China", Proc. SPIE 6752, Geoinformatics 2007: Remotely Sensed Data and Information, 675223 (26 July 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.760762

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

;

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE