Abstract
This study selected the Dunhuang city with the unique landscape pattern, its oasis surround by desert, for studying the vegetation change. Based on two period GaoFen-1 images, combined with field survey data, the dimidiate pixel model and fractional vegetation coverage estimation model were applied to detect the changes of local vegetation coverage from July 2013 to July 2015. Analysis showed that during the study years, the Grain for Green project had a remarkable effect on the changes. The vegetation types of intermediate high and very low grades increased by 0.66 and 6.78 km2 respectively. The low vegetation coverage decreased by 23.87 km2. The vegetation coverage types of intermediate grade increased by 88.97 km2 because of the planted forest, which accounted for 10.84% of the study area. The vegetation coverage types of high grade reduced by 72.47 km2. This change effectively prevents the spread of desert and lays a good foundation for the ecological construction of Dunhuang city.
Highlights
Oasis refers to a green land with weeds in the desert
Based on two period GaoFen-1 images, combined with field survey data, the dimidiate pixel model and fractional vegetation coverage estimation model were applied to detect the changes of local vegetation coverage from July 2013 to July 2015
The vegetation coverage types of intermediate grade increased by 88.97 km2 because of the planted forest, which accounted for 10.84% of the study area
Summary
Dunhuang oasis, is one of the main bases for human settlement and production in the arid and semi-arid regions of Northwest China. In order to understand the current situation, trends, driving forces, and environmental impacts of the vegetation cover in desert oasis, using remote sensing date, numerous studies have been performed (Yang et al 2010; Liu et al 2013; Zhang et al 2015). Based on two period GaoFen-1 (GF-1) images, the dimidiate pixel model and vegetation coverage estimation model were applied to detect the changes of vegetation covers from 2013 to 2015 in Dunhuang oasis. The goal is of this study is to provide a reference for accurately understanding the situation of regional ecological change and evaluating the effectiveness of the ecological projects
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