Evaluation of Desert Control by Landsat Data Analysis in Yulin Prefecture, Shanxi Province of China

摘要

The area that was studies and analyzed is in Yulin Prefecture, Shanxi Province of China, located in the transitional morphology from the Maowusu Sandland to the Ocher Plateau. It is half the size of the Maowusu Sandland: 570,000 ha. This study uses Landsat data and climate data to analyze how the land cover has changed as a result of human reforestation on the land that had recently turned to desert. A significant decrease of desert land area occurred in the Yulin region between 2000 and 2005. During the 19 years between 1986 and 2005, approximately 24% of the desert land (about 5000 km2) became grassland, concomitant with the rise of NDVT. These changes were caused not by the influences of precipitation and temperature, but by artificial greening. However, the decreased size of the lakes was attributed to both climate change and human activity.