Proceedings Article | 5 November 2008
KEYWORDS: Satellites, Geographic information systems, Remote sensing, Image classification, Ecology, Lithium, Landsat, Agriculture, Reconnaissance, Earth observing sensors
Based on digital Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM/ETM+) (1986, 1995, and 2000) imagery interpretation, landscape
changes were analyzed in the Jinghe basin, one of the soil erosion regions in China, to provide basic data for local
decision-making as well as sustainable landscape use and management. Results showed that landscape from 1986 to
2000 changed at the basin scale as the area of grassland, shrubland, sparse forestland, and water area decreased, while
cropland, built-up land, unused land, other forestland, and forestland increased. Landscape changes mainly occurred in
cropland, grassland, built-up land, shrubland, and sparse forestland. Moreover, the changes and area in cropland and
grassland were the largest, influencing the whole characteristics of the changes in the Jinghe basin. Analysis of the
changes between 1986 and 2000 in the study area indicated that bidirectional change between 1995 and 2000 was more
obvious than between 1986 and 1995. But landscape use extent between 1986 and 1995 was bigger than between 1995
and 2000. Landscape developed continuously and transformed obviously before 1995, and which were in the regulation
stage after 1995. Based on comparing characteristics between big and small remote sensing satellites, we thought that
small satellite could be applied in landscape ecology and land use etc for its merit. We were in preparation for using and
validating data from a small satellite in studying landscape changes and comparing the results with some results from a
small satellite data.
