The desertification in Northwestern China and Mongolia shows the result of conflicts between economic
development and natural conservation. Many researches have proven the desert areas are growing in these regions. The
variations of bi-weekly NDVI satellite images are used as one of the parameters to evaluate the vegetation dynamics
over large scale studies. In this study, remotely sensed satellite images are conducted to provide multi-temporal
vegetated and non-vegetated areas in order to assess the status of desertification in East Asia. Spatial data derived from
these satellite images are applied to evaluate vegetation dynamics at regional scale to find out the hot spot areas
vulnerable to desertification. The results show that the desert areas are mainly distributed over southern Mongolia,
central and western Inner-Mongolia, western China (the Taklimakan desert). The desert areas were expanded from 2000
to 2002, were shrunk in 2003, and were expanded from 2003 to 2005 again. The hot spot areas of desertification are
mainly distributed over southeastern Mongolia and eastern Inner-Mongolia. The results will help administrators to refine
the planning processes in defining the boundaries of protected areas and will facilitate to take decision of the priority
areas for conservation of desertification.
Land degradation has become an important issue in western China recently. Oasis ecosystem is sensitive to
environmental disturbances, such as abnormal /extreme events of precipitations, water supply from upper watersheds,
fluctuations of temperatures, etc. Satellite remote sensing of terrestrial ecosystems provides temporal dynamics and
spatial distributions of landscape green covers over large areas. Seasonal green cover data are normally important in
assessing landscape health (ex. desertification, rate of urban sprawl, natural disturbances) in arid and semi-arid regions.
In this study, green cover data is derived from vegetation indices retrieved from MODIS sensors onboard Terra. The
satellite images during the period April 2000 to December 2005 are analyzed to quantify the spatial distribution and
temporal changes of Ejin Oasis. The results will help improving monitoring techniques to evaluate land degradation and
to estimate the newest tendency of landscape green cover dynamics in the Ejin Oasis.
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