Land Cover Change In China Research Articles

Association Analysis of the Spatial and Temporal Changes in Vegetation Photosynthesis Levels with Land Cover Changes in China Based on Solar-Induced Fluorescence

Understanding the relationship between vegetation photosynthesis levels and land use changes is crucial for assessing ecosystem health and plant growth status. Existing studies have not fully considered temporal and spatial dimensions, resulting in an incomplete understanding of the relationship between vegetation photosynthesis levels and land use. Based on solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) data from 2001 to 2022, this study used the Mann-Kendall (MK) test and spatial association analysis to explore the associations between temporal and spatial changes in vegetation photosynthesis levels and land cover change (LCC) in China. The contributions and findings are as follows: (1) A computational framework was utilized to comprehensively measure the spatial correlation between LCCs and chlorophyll levels based on their spatial co-occurrence. (2) The MK test results of the annual and monthly average vegetation photosynthesis levels revealed that most regions in China exhibited increasing trends, accounting for 90.01% and 91.78%, respectively. Moreover, the vegetation photosynthesis levels in western China had a downward trend, indicating that the vegetation ecosystem in this region may be under a certain degree of pressure or may face the risk of degradation. (3) Some economically developed provinces are facing ecological pressures caused by urbanization and industrialization, which have led to the degradation of vegetation ecosystems and a decrease in vegetation photosynthesis levels. (4) Highly supportive areas of the land use–vegetation photosynthesis level association analysis were mainly distributed in grassland and forest areas, indicating the effectiveness of forest protection and grassland management policies. Moreover, the decrease in vegetation photosynthesis mainly occurred in barren areas, illustrating that the management and protection of this type of land still need to be strengthened. These findings underscore the complex interplay between land use and vegetation health, providing insights for sustainable land management policies.

Significant land cover change in China during 2001–2019: Implications for direct and indirect effects on surface ozone concentration

China has become one of the most prominent areas of global land cover change during the past few decades. These changes can directly influence meteorological parameters thus further regulating tropospheric ozone (O3) formation. Moreover, changes in biogenic emissions due to land cover variation can also have an indirect effect on O3 concentration. This study applied the Community Multiscale Air Quality model to comprehensively evaluate the impacts of significant land cover change on O3 levels in China during summertime between 2001 and 2019. The results showed that the daily maximum 8–h average O3 concentration (MDA8 O3) increased by 3.6–8.9 μg/m3, 2.8–8.0 μg/m3, 3.8–9.6 μg/m3, -1.5–6.2 μg/m3, and -0.6–2.5 μg/m3 in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Sichuan Basin, and Fenwei Plain, respectively, in response to land cover variation. The research identified that the direct effect was the primary factor in raising O3 levels which mainly altered O3 concentration by changing vertical import and dry deposition velocity. Moreover, land cover variation tended to decrease biogenic nitric oxide emission and increase biogenic volatile organic compounds emission on the whole, and cause an obvious increase of MDA8 O3 by 1.8–4.9 μg/m3 in Pearl River Delta due to the indirect effect. This study offered valuable insights into the impacts of land cover change on O3 levels, highlighting the need for policymakers to consider land cover variation on air pollutants concentration for devising comprehensive multi-pollutant control strategies.

Spatiotemporal Changes of Ecosystem Service Values in Response to Land Cover Dynamics in China from 1992 to 2020

Global land cover changed significantly in the last several decades due to strong climate warming and intensive human activities, and those changes greatly affected ecosystem services all over the world. Using CCI-LC land cover data from 1992 to 2020, the spatiotemporal characteristics of land cover change in China were investigated, and the annual ecosystem service values (ESVs) were estimated with the equivalent factor method. The results showed that: (1) The overall accuracy and Kappa coefficient of CCI-LC products in China were 71.1% and 0.65, respectively. (2) From 1992 to 2020, the area of cropland in China increased generally first before 2004 then decreased after 2008; the area of forest land decreased before 2003 then increased after 2015; the area of grassland and bare land consistently decreased; and the area of built-up land continuously increased, with a total increase of 113,000 km2. The primary characteristics of land cover transitions in China were the mutual conversion of cropland, forestland, and grassland as well as the continuous increase of built-up land. (3) Forest land was the most significant contributor of ESV in China, making 62.9% of the total ESV by multi-year average, followed by grassland (18.5%) and water (10.3%); the ESV was roughly high in the southeast China and low in the northwest. (4) The total ESV in China decreased generally before 2015 and got stable in the last five years. The hot spots with rising ESV were mainly concentrated in the western, northern and southwestern parts of China, while the cold spots with declining ESV were mainly concentrated in the economically developed eastern and southern China. (5) Cropland, forest land, grassland, and water were the positive contributors to ESV change in China, while built-up land and bare land were the negative contributors. The findings provide a theoretical foundation for China’s harmonized socioeconomic and environmental development.

A new estimation of carbon emissions from land use and land cover change in China over the past 300 years

Scientific estimation of carbon emissions induced by historical land use and land cover change (LUCC) can improve the accuracy of terrestrial ecosystem carbon budget estimates and deepen understanding of the future carbon-sink potential of terrestrial ecosystems. The present study, using historical-document-based data for provincial cropland, forest, and grassland area in China, and experimental-data-based information for provincial vegetation and soil organic carbon density, re-estimates China's LUCC-induced carbon emissions for 1700–1980 using a bookkeeping model in which we updated tabulated functions for carbon losses and gains. The past 300 years have witnessed a dramatic LUCC in China. The cropland area has increased by 67.11 million ha, while the forest and grassland areas have decreased by 127.96 million ha and 16.72 million ha, respectively. Accordingly, the net carbon emissions for 1700–1980 are 6.17–12.35 Pg C, with 8.55 Pg C in the moderate scenario. Among the contributing factors, deforestation was the largest carbon source, accounting for over 90 % of the total carbon emissions. According to our estimates, over 70 % of carbon emissions were caused by harvesting wood, while <30 % were from converting forest and grassland to cropland. Spatially, for the whole period, carbon emissions in southwestern China (Chuan-Yu, Yunnan, and Guangxi), northeastern China (Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang), and parts of northwestern China (Gan-Ning, Qinghai, and Xinjiang) were as high as 6.03 Pg C, accounting for 70 % of the total carbon emissions. Extending previous studies, we updated the historical LUCC data, carbon density data, and tabulated functions for carbon losses and gains. The estimation results objectively reveal the historical spatiotemporal changes in LUCC-induced emissions.

Land cover change and multiple remotely sensed datasets consistency in China

Introduction Although numerous land cover datasets can act as references for understanding land cover change in China, the inconsistencies between the datasets can also provide understanding. Previous studies on the consistency between land cover datasets have mostly focused on land cover type consistencies and have ignored data consistencies in land cover change. Outcomes Therefore, we aim to analyse the consistencies in land cover changes through likelihood assessment methods. We compared the spatiotemporal changes in forest, grassland, cropland, and bare land in the Climate Change Initiative land cover dataset (CCI-LC), Moderate-resolution Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer land cover dataset (MCD12Q1), China’s National Land Use and Cover Change (CNLUCC), Globeland30 and Global Land Cover Fine Surface Covering 30 (GLC-FCS30) datasets in 2010. The results showed that the percentages and changes in each land cover type in MCD12Q1 were different from those in the other datasets. Discussion For example, the proportion of grassland in MCD12Q1 was the highest, reaching 48.04%. The places with high consistency were the places where the land cover types were concentrated, and the bare land had the highest consistency. However, the consistency of China’s land cover change was quite low, and the percentage of low consistency was more than 87% from 2000-2018. Comparison of the data with the global artificial impervious area (GAIA) and Hansen-Global Forest Change (Hansen-GFC) datasets showed that the percentage of high construction gain consistency (38.83%) was higher than the forest change consistency, and the percentage forest loss high consistency (8.85%) was lower than the forest gain high consistency (12.76%). Conclusion The results not only provide a basis for the use of land cover datasets but also give a clearer understanding of the pattern of land cover changes.

Distribution of ecological restoration projects associated with land use and land cover change in China and their ecological impacts

China is prone to broad land degradation and thus has been implementing ecological restoration projects (ERPs) since the reform and opening up. The extent of ERPs, as well as the varied planting efforts including tree gain projects (TGPs), grass gain projects (GGPs), and shrub gain projects (SGPs), have remained largely unknown. In addition, the mixed success of ERPs on preventing soil erosion and improving biodiversity is not well known. Based on a land use and land cover (LULC) product and a trajectory-based change detection approach, we successfully generated the first national map of ERPs associated with land use and land cover change (LUCC) and its three associated subcategories. Then, we applied the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model to evaluate the dynamics of sediment retention and habitat quality. In addition, we explored the heterogeneous patterns for the ecological impacts of ERPs. Our results suggested that during the past 40 years, a total ERP area of 9.54 × 106 hm2 was observed nationwide, mainly in the northwestern provinces of China. Of the three ERP subcategories, TGPs accounted for the largest area (48.55%), followed by GGPs (47.50%) and SGPs (3.96%). The national average sediment retention experienced a significant increase, whereas the national average habitat quality experienced a significant decline. ERP-driven increases in habitat quality were offset partly by the LUCCs induced by economic development policies in some regions, especially in northeast China. The simultaneous effect of construction land expansion and ERP implementation on sediment retention made the synchronization between ERP implementation and sediment retention improvement insignificant. We also suggested the optimal direction for ERP implementation.

Regional differentiation in the ecological effects of land cover change in China

AbstractLand cover changes driven by either land degradation or land development have caused distinct alterations of the global environment. China has experienced a large area of land degradation and development, while the environmental responses to the national land cover changes are still vague. Based on remote‐sensed datasets, we analyzed the multiple ecological effects (temperature, biomass formation, and observed greenness) of land cover changes in China and their regional differences through neighbourhood analysis and Geogdetector, aiming to provide a theoretical basis for mitigating land degradation and sustainable land development. The results showed that the conversion of cultivated land to grassland and shrubland led to reductions in the greenness effect (−0.017) and biomass formation effect (−0.015 kg C m‐2), while the conversion of forest to grassland and shrubland led to a reduction in greenness (−0.01) and an increase in temperature (0.079°C). As the amplitude of the change in the land cover fraction increased, these trends became more obvious and irreversible. The same land cover change could have either positive or negative ecological effects in different climatic regions and at different elevation levels. In particular, the conversion of forests to grassland and shrubland had a warming effect on all climatic regions and elevation levels. The results can provide a regionally differentiated basis for improving China's current land use policy regarding the balance between cultivated land and natural land.

Ecosystem service multifunctionality assessment and coupling coordination analysis with land use and land cover change in China's coastal zones

Ecosystem services (ESs) have received widespread attention worldwide for their potential to solve sustainability issues. However, extensive land use and land cover change (LUCC) driven by human activities has raised concerns regarding its impacts on ESs, especially in coastal zones. More importantly, spatial–temporal changes, their coupling relationships with LUCC, and their underlying drivers have not been thoroughly analyzed. This study focuses on China's coastal zones to investigate the spatial–temporal changes of ecosystem service multifunctionality (ESM) from 2000 to 2018. Coupling coordination degree (CCD) analysis of the relationship between ESM and comprehensive intensity of land use was applied to identify coastal cities with low-level coordination and their main drivers in 2018. The results show that: (1) the proportion with high levels of ESM decreased by 1.01% from 2000 to 2010 and then increased by 3.29% from 2010 to 2018; (2) the ESM of China's coastal zones present significant spatial heterogeneity, and the low levels of ESM are mainly distributed in the north and urban areas, while most areas in the southern coastal zones have high levels of ESM; (3) forest land is the leading land cover type for ESM, and China's forest conservation policies significantly contribute to the increase in ESM; (4) the CCD of most cities in the southern coastal zones, apart from Shanghai and the Pearl River Delta, is at a relatively high level and experiences no significant changes, while most cities in the northern coastal zones display an improving trend; (5) the land use type, landform type, and leaf area index are the determinants of ESM, and the annual average temperature, population density, and surface elevation are the greatest influences on the CCD. The findings of this study can inform ecological conservation and landscape planning and are beneficial to the sustainable development of coastal zones in China.

China’s Land Cover Fraction Change during 2001–2015 Based on Remote Sensed Data Fusion between MCD12 and CCI-LC

New types of remote sensed land cover datasets provide key evidence for understanding global environmental change. However, low data consistency makes understanding the changes unclear. China has become a hot spot of land cover change in the world due to climate change and a series of human measures, such as ecological engineering, land consolidation, and urbanization. However, due to the inconsistencies in interpretation of signs and thresholds, the understanding of yearly-continued land cover changes in China is still unclear. We aim to produce China’s land cover fraction dataset from 2001 to 2015 by weighted consistency analysis. We compare the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer land cover dataset (MCD12Q1), the Climate Change Initiative Land Cover (CCI-LC) datasets, and a new land cover fraction dataset named China-LCFMCD-CCI, produced with a 1 km resolution. The obvious increased forest areas only accounted for 4.6% of the total forest areas, and were mainly distributed in northeast China. Approximately 75.8% of the grassland and shrubland areas decreased in size, and these areas were relatively concentrated in northeast and south China. The obvious increased areas of cropland (3.7%) were equal to the obvious decreased areas (3.6%), and the increased cropland areas were in northwest China. The change in bare land was not obvious, as the obvious increased areas only accounted for 0.75% of the bare land areas. The results not only prove that the data fusion of the weighted consistency method is feasible to form a land cover fraction dataset, but also helps to fully reveal the trends in land cover fraction change in China.

Quantitative Research on the Influence of Urbanization of Land Types on Evapotranspiration in Arid Areas

Among all the factors affecting evapotranspiration (ET) in arid areas, the land use types of underlying surface play a dominant role. Under the effects of climate change and human activities, there was a significant change of land use and land cover change in China, special at loess plateau. Based on satellite remote sensing data and ground observation data, this study analyzed the influences of four land types’ urbanization on ET in arid areas from 2010 to 2015. The results showed that rural residence areas’ urbanization has the most magnificent effect on ET after excluding meteorological effects.

Are There Sufficient Landsat Observations for Retrospective and Continuous Monitoring of Land Cover Changes in China?

Unprecedented human-induced land cover changes happened in China after the Reform and Opening-up in 1978, matching with the era of Landsat satellite series. However, it is still unknown whether Landsat data can effectively support retrospective analysis of land cover changes in China over the past four decades. Here, for the first time, we conduct a systematic investigation on the availability of Landsat data in China, targeting its application for retrospective and continuous monitoring of land cover changes. The latter is significant to assess impact of land cover changes, and consequences of past land policy and management interventions. The total and valid observations (excluding clouds, cloud shadows, and terrain shadows) from Landsat 5/7/8 from 1984 to 2017 were quantified at pixel scale, based on the cloud computing platform Google Earth Engine (GEE). The results show higher intensity of Landsat observation in the northern part of China as compared to the southern part. The study provides an overall picture of Landsat observations suitable for satellite-based annual land cover monitoring over the entire country. We uncover that two sub-regions of China (i.e., Northeast China-Inner Mongolia-Northwest China, and North China Plain) have sufficient valid observations for retrospective analysis of land cover over 30 years (1987–2017) at an annual interval; whereas the Middle-Lower Yangtze Plain (MLYP) and Xinjiang (XJ) have sufficient observations for annual analyses for the periods 1989–2017 and 2004–2017, respectively. Retrospective analysis of land cover is possible only at a two-year time interval in South China (SC) for the years 1988–2017, Xinjiang (XJ) for the period 1992–2003, and the Tibetan Plateau (TP) during 2004–2017. For the latter geographic regions, land cover dynamics can be analyzed only at a three-year interval prior to 2004. Our retrospective analysis suggest that Landsat-based analysis of land cover dynamics at an annual interval for the whole country is not feasible; instead, national monitoring at two- or three-year intervals could be achievable. This study provides a preliminary assessment of data availability, targeting future continuous land cover monitoring in China; and the code is released to the public to facilitate similar data inventory in other regions of the world.

Spatial pattern of land cover change in China’s semiarid environment

This study seeks a routine to quantify spatial pattern of land cover changes in semiarid environment of China based on post-classification comparison method. The method consists of three major steps: (1) the image classification and unification of classified results based on two-level land cover classification themes, (2) the establishment of land cover change classes based on an unification land cover classification theme, (3) the reclassification and mapping of land cover change classes with three overall classes including no-change, gain and loss based on the unification land cover class. This method was applied to detect the spatial pattern of land cover changes in Yinchuan Plain, one of famous irrigation agricultural zones of the Yellow River, China. The results showed the land cover had undergone a remarkable change from 1991 to 2002 in the study area (the changed area was over 30%). Rapid increase of cropland (12.5%), built-up area (131.4%) and rapid decrease of bare ground (51.7%) were alarming. The spatial pattern of land cover changes showed clear regional difference in the study area and was clearly related to human activities or natural factors. Thus, it obtained a better understanding of the human impact on the fragile ecosystem of China's semiarid environment.

A review on historical trajectories and spatially explicit scenarios of land-use and land-cover changes in China

ABSTRACTLand use in China has changed remarkably over the past centuries with manifold implications for sustainable development. Investigation and projection of the land-use and land-cover changes (LUCC) have therefore become critical to promote the understanding of the LUCC process and the interactions with human societies. Scientists had devoted great efforts to create, process, and interpret comprehensive historical land-use/cover datasets, and to simulate future land-use systems under different scenarios. We synthesize the literature on the historical trajectories of LUCC in China, and summarize existing efforts of scenario developments for the projection of spatially explicit LUCC. Our review therefore provides salient suggestions for future land-use change analysis.

Urban growth: Changes, management, and problems in large cities of Southeast China

Compared with medium-sized cities, megacities play an increasingly important role in the rapid urbanization process in China. Owing to the expanding scale of large cities, urban sprawl leads to unsustainable practices that cause ecological, social, and environmental problems. Urban planning and land use planning are major driving forces of land use and land cover change in China. However, the goals of these two types of planning are different, and coordinating them is a challenge for local government decision makers. Thus, we use the SLEUTH model to simulate the implementation scenarios of future urban growth in Nanjing in the Jiangsu province of China. Using the scientific simulation data of the model, we contrasted the alternative futures of the two planning types for local government decision makers to achieve sustainable urban planning. The objective of our study is to explore the problems and possible solutions for urban management in the context of a megacity in China. The results of our study confirm the value of SLEUTH, which provides extensive exploratory knowledge in evaluating the effects of possible local government decisions.

Impacts of land use and land cover changes on biogenic emissions of volatile organic compounds in China from the late 1980s to the mid-2000s: implications for tropospheric ozone and secondary organic aerosol

Based on the MEGAN (Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature) module embedded within the global chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem), we estimate the changes in emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) and their impacts on surface-layer O3 and secondary organic aerosols (SOA) in China between the late 1980s and the mid-2000s by using the land cover dataset derived from remote sensing images and land use survey. The land cover change in China from the late 1980s to the mid-2000s can be characterised by an expansion of urban areas (the total urban area in the mid-2000s was four times that in the late 1980s) and a reduction in total vegetation coverage by 4%. Regionally, the fractions of land covered by forests exhibited increases in southeastern and northeastern China by 10–30 and 5–15%, respectively, those covered by cropland decreased in most regions except that the farming–pastoral zone in northern China increased by 5–20%, and the factions of grassland in northern China showed a large reduction of 5–30%. With changes in both land cover and meteorological fields, annual BVOC emission in China is estimated to increase by 11.4% in the mid-2000s relative to the late 1980s. With anthropogenic emissions of O3 precursors, aerosol precursors and aerosols fixed at year 2005 levels, the changes in land cover and meteorological parameters from the late 1980s to the mid-2000s are simulated to change the seasonal mean surface-layer O3 concentrations by −4 to +6 ppbv (−10 to +20%) and to change the seasonal mean surface-layer SOA concentrations by −0.4 to +0.6 µg m−3 (−20 to +30%) over China. We find that the decadal changes in meteorological parameters had larger collective effects on BVOC emissions and surface-layer concentrations of O3 and SOA than those in land cover and land use alone. We also perform a sensitivity simulation to compare the impacts of changes in anthropogenic emissions on concentrations of O3 and SOA with those of the changes in meteorological parameters and land cover.

A Simulation Study on Climatic Effects of Land Cover Change in China

The regional climate model RegCM4 was used to investigate the regional climate effects of land cover change over China. Two 24-year simulations (1978–2001), one with the land cover derived from the MODIS data and the other with the CLCV (Chinese land cover derived from vegetation map) data, were conducted for a region encompassing China. The differences between the MODIS and CLCV data reflect characteristics of desertification and degradation of vegetation in China. Results indicate that the land cover change has important impacts on local climate through mechanisms related to changes in surface energy, water budgets and macro-scale circulation. In summer, the land cover change leads to a decrease in surface air temperature over southern China, a reduction in precipitation and an increase in surface air temperature in the transitional climate zone and the northern Tibetan Plateau, and an increase in inter-annual variability of surface air temperature in the marginal monsoon zone and northwestern China. Strengthened southwesterly winds increase precipitation to some extent in central and eastern Inner Mongolia by enhancing water vapor transport. In winter, enhanced northerly winds, bringing more dry and cold air, lead to a reduction in precipitation and temperature over areas south of the Yellow River. CitationYu, Y., and Z.-H. Xie, 2013: A simulation study on climatic effects of land cover change in China. Adv. Clim. Change Res.,4(2), doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1248.2013.117.

Spatial pattern of land cover change in China’s semiarid environment

Spatial pattern of land cover change in China’s semiarid environment

Land use changes and their relations with carbon cycles over the past 300 a in China

Land use and land cover in China have changed greatly during the past 300 a, indicated by the rapid abrupt decrease of forest land area and the rapid increase of cropland area, which can affect terrestrial carbon cycle greatly. The first-hand materials are used to analyze main characteristics for land use and land cover changes in China during the study period. The following conclusions can be drawn from this study. The cropland area in China kept increasing from 60.78×106 hm2 in 1661 to 96.09×106 hm2 in 1998. Correspondingly, the forest land area decreased from 248.13×106 hm2 in 1700 to 109.01×106 hm2 in 1949. Affected by such changes, the terrestrial ecosystem carbon storage decreased in the mean time. Carbon lost from land use and land cover changes mainly consist of the loss from vegetation biomass and soil. In the past 300 a, about 3.70 PgC was lost from vegetation biomass, and emissions from soil ranged from 0.80 to 5.84 PgC. The moderate evaluation of soil losses was 2.48 PgC. The total loss from vegetation and soil was between 4.50 and 9.54 PgC. The moderate and optimum evaluation was 6.18 PgC. Such carbon losses distribution varied spatially from region to region. Carbon lost more significantly in Northeast China and Southwest China than in other regions, because losses of forest land in these two regions were far greater than in the other regions during the past 300 a. And losses of carbon in the other regions were also definite, such as Inner Mongolia, the western part of South China, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. But the carbon lost very little from the traditional agricultural regions in China, such as North China and East China. Studies on the relationship between land use and land cover change and carbon cycle in China show that the land use activities, especially those related to agriculture and forest management, began to affect terrestrial carbon storage positively in recent years.

The perimeter/area ratio as an index of misregistration bias in land cover change estimates

Two Thematic Mapper (TM) scenes were used to analyse the amount and pattern of land cover change in China's Pearl River delta. From 1988 to 1996 net cropland area decreased by 13.5%, net vegetated land cover decreased by 11.5%, and built-up land increased by over 272%. A perimeter/area ( P / A ) ratio analysis was performed on the size and shape of the cropland parcels that were lost between 1988-1996. Cropland was lost primarily due to conversion to vegetated (forest, orchard, etc.) or built-up land. The changes from cropland to vegetated land had a large percentage of area changed in smaller clumps with high P / A ratios, indicating potential linear changes that could be attributed to misregistration. The changes to built-up land cover had a large percentage of area changed in larger clumps with smaller P / A ratios. The P / A ratio appears to be an easily derived method for determining potential areas of linear 'false change' caused by misregistration in change detection analyses.

Spatialization model of population based on dataset of land use and land cover change in China

The spatialization of population of counties in China is significant. Firstly, we can gain the estimated values of population density adaptive to different kinds of regions. Secondly, we can integrate effectively population data with other data including natural resources, environment, society and economy, build 1km GRIDs of natural resources reserves per person, population density and other economic and environmental data, which are necessary to the national management and macro adjustment and control of natural resources and dynamic monitoring of population. In order to establish population information system serving national decision-making, three steps ought to be followed: 1) establishing complete geographical spatial data foundation infrastructure including the establishment of electric map of residence with high resolution using topographical map with large scale and high resolution satellite remote sensing data, the determination of attribute information of housing and office buildings, and creating complete set of attribute database and rapid data updating; 2) establishing complete census systems including improving the transformation efficiency from census data to digital database and strengthening the link of census database and geographical spatial database, meanwhile, the government should attach great importance to the establishment and integration of population migration database; 3) considering there is no GIS software specially serving the analysis and management of population data, a practical approach is to add special modules to present software system, which works as a bridge actualizing the digitization and spatialization of population geography research.