Impacts of Land Use Change on NDVI in Shaanxi Province of China

Abstract

Land use change is one of the main impacts of human activities and has a profound impact on vegetation change. Based on the MODIS normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from 2000 to 2018 and land use data in 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015, the land use and its impacts on NDVI change in the Shaanxi province of China were analyzed. This study showed that the land use structure in Shaanxi province is stable, with forest land, grassland and farmland as the main components. The main feature of land use change from 2000 to 2015 was the large area of farmland converted to construction land, mainly distributed in the Guanzhong Plain in the central Shaanxi province, especially in the vicinity of the capital city of Xi’an. The impact of land use changes on NDVI showed a significant decreasing trend in the area converted to construction land during 2000-2018, while the NDVI for areas converted to forest, farmland and grassland all showed a significant increasing trend. The growth rate of NDVI in the area converted to farmland was higher than in the areas converted to forest land and grassland, the reason for which needs further study.