Finding
Following the drying of watercourse, the trends of degradation and desertification are more aggressive in lower reaches of Tarim River.
Paper
Remote sensing of the environmental degradation in Tarim River basin, West China
Abstract
Tarim River basin is one of the most fragile eco-environments in West China. It is an inland area characterized by a large deficit of rainfall. Changes in climate and land-use in the Tarim River basin have altered the vegetation patterns and dynamics in recent years. The objective of the paper is to understand how climate and human activities affect the ecoenvironment in the and region. In this study Landsat TM/ETM+ data from 1990 to 2000 were used in order to provide information of land-use changes. Time-series of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) are shown to capture essential features of seasonal and inter-annual vegetation variability in this and area. Impact of climate change on liver runoff was assessed and compared with the effect of human activities on river discharge. It is found that distinct heterogeneities exist among different parts of the Tarim River basin. Although the change of climate increased the discharge of headstream, runoff of the lower reaches decreased because of the unreasoning farmland exploitation in the upper and middle reaches. Following the drying of watercourse, the trends of degradation and desertification are more aggressive in lower reaches of Tarim River.
Authors
Xiao Fei, Zhang Baiping, C. Weiming
Journal
Proceedings. 2005 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 2005. IGARSS '05.