Understanding the topography in active tectonic areas and assessing the rates and models of active deformation in the upper crust are primary objectives in tectonic geomorphology studies. The drainage pattern of river...Understanding the topography in active tectonic areas and assessing the rates and models of active deformation in the upper crust are primary objectives in tectonic geomorphology studies. The drainage pattern of river systems is highly sensitive to tectonically induced changes, and it often preserves the records of the formation and progression of most tectono-geomorphic processes within its boundaries. Therefore, the evolution of landforms is a consequence of the evolution of individual drainage basins in which they are formed. Assessing the rates of tectonic deformation using geomorphic data is a traditionally adopted method to characterize the nature of active faults. Globally, the Digital Elevation Model(DEM) is widely used as a crucial tool to analyze the morphotectonic features of drainage basins. In this study, some geomorphic indices were applied to investigate the impact of tectonism on landscape along the Karahay?t Fault and its associated drainage areas. These geomorphic indices are mountain front sinuosity(Smf values between 1.17-1.52), valley floor width-to-height ratio(Vf values between 0.25-1.46), basin asymmetry factor(AF values between 15-72), drainage basin shape(Bs values between 3.18-6.01), hypsometric integral and curve(HI values between 0.32-047), channel sinuosity(S values between 1-1.6), normalized steepness index(Ksn values between 1-390) and Chi integral(χ values between 200-4400). The development of drainage areas on the hanging wall and footwall block of the Karahayit Fault differs depending on the uplift. The drainage areas developed on the hanging wall present different patterns depending on the regional uplift caused by the fault. This reveals that the fault contributed significantly to the development of drainage areas and regional uplift in the region. In addition, the maximum earthquake magnitude that may occur in the future on the Karahayit Fault, whose activity is supported by geomorphic indices, is calculated as 6.23. Since an earthquake of this magnitude may cause loss of life and property in the region, precautions should be taken.展开更多
Climate warming is constantly causing hydro-meteorological perturbations,especially in high-altitude mountainous regions,which lead to the occurrences of landslides.The impact of climatic variables(i.e.,precipitation ...Climate warming is constantly causing hydro-meteorological perturbations,especially in high-altitude mountainous regions,which lead to the occurrences of landslides.The impact of climatic variables(i.e.,precipitation and temperature)on the distribution of landslides in the eastern regions of the Himalayas is poorly understood.To address this,the current study analyzes the relationship between the spatial distribution of landslide characteristics and climatic variables from 2013 to 2021.Google Earth Engine(GEE)was employed to make landslide inventories using satellite data.The results show that 2163,6927,and 9601 landslides were heterogeneously distributed across the study area in 2013,2017,and 2021,respectively.The maximum annual temperature was positively correlated with the distribution of landslides,whereas precipitation was found to have a non-significant impact on the landslide distribution.Spatially,most of the landslides occurred in areas with maximum annual precipitation ranging from 800 to 1600 mm and maximum annual temperature above 15℃.However,in certain regions,earthquake disruptions marginally affected the occurrence of landslides.Landslides were highly distributed in areas with elevations ranging between 3000 and 5000 m above sea level,and many landslides occurred near the lower permafrost limit and close to glaciers.The latter indicates that temperature change-induced freeze-thaw action influences landslides in the region.Temperature changes have shown a positive correlation with the number of landslides within elevations,indicating that temperature affects their spatial distribution.Various climate projections suggest that the region will experience further warming,which will increase the likelihood of landslides in the future.Thus,it is crucial to enhance ground observation capabilities and climate datasets to effectively monitor and mitigate landslide risks.展开更多
Little is known about the mechanism of climate-vegetation coverage coupled changes in the Tibetan Plateau(TP)region,which is the most climatically sensitive and ecologically fragile region with the highest terrain in ...Little is known about the mechanism of climate-vegetation coverage coupled changes in the Tibetan Plateau(TP)region,which is the most climatically sensitive and ecologically fragile region with the highest terrain in the world.This study,using multisource datasets(including satellite data and meteorological observations and reanalysis data)revealed the mutual feedback mechanisms between changes in climate(temperature and precipitation)and vegetation coverage in recent decades in the Hengduan Mountains Area(HMA)of the southeastern TP and their influences on climate in the downstream region,the Sichuan Basin(SCB).There is mutual facilitation between rising air temperature and increasing vegetation coverage in the HMA,which is most significant during winter,and then during spring,but insignificant during summer and autumn.Rising temperature significantly enhances local vegetation coverage,and vegetation greening in turn heats the atmosphere via enhancing net heat flux from the surface to the atmosphere.The atmospheric heating anomaly over the HMA thickens the atmospheric column and increases upper air pressure.The high pressure anomaly disperses downstream via the westerly flow,expands across the SCB,and eventually increases the SCB temperature.This effect lasts from winter to the following spring,which may cause the maximum increasing trend of the SCB temperature and vegetation coverage in spring.These results are helpful for estimating future trends in climate and eco-environmental variations in the HMA and SCB under warming scenarios,as well as seasonal forecasting based on the connection between the HMA eco-environment and SCB climate.展开更多
The Three-River Source Region(TRSR)in China holds a vital position and exhibits an irreplaceable strategic importance in ecological preservation at the national level.On the basis of an in-depth study of the vegetatio...The Three-River Source Region(TRSR)in China holds a vital position and exhibits an irreplaceable strategic importance in ecological preservation at the national level.On the basis of an in-depth study of the vegetation evolution in the TRSR from 2000 to 2022,we conducted a detailed analysis of the feedback mechanism of vegetation growth to climate change and human activity for different vegetation types.During the growing season,the spatiotemporal variations of normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI)for different vegetation types in the TRSR were analyzed using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS)-NDVI data and meteorological data from 2000 to 2022.In addition,the response characteristics of vegetation to temperature,precipitation,and human activity were assessed using trend analysis,partial correlation analysis,and residual analysis.Results indicated that,after in-depth research,from 2000 to 2022,the TRSR's average NDVI during the growing season was 0.3482.The preliminary ranking of the average NDVI for different vegetation types was as follows:shrubland(0.5762)>forest(0.5443)>meadow(0.4219)>highland vegetation(0.2223)>steppe(0.2159).The NDVI during the growing season exhibited a fluctuating growth trend,with an average growth rate of 0.0018/10a(P<0.01).Notably,forests displayed a significant development trend throughout the growing season,possessing the fastest rate of change in NDVI(0.0028/10a).Moreover,the upward trends in NDVI for forests and steppes exhibited extensive spatial distributions,with significant increases accounting for 95.23%and 93.80%,respectively.The sensitivity to precipitation was significantly enhanced in other vegetation types other than highland vegetation.By contrast,steppes,meadows,and highland vegetation demonstrated relatively high vulnerability to temperature fluctuations.A further detailed analysis revealed that climate change had a significant positive impact on the TRSR from 2000 to 2022,particularly in its northwestern areas,accounting for 85.05%of the total area.Meanwhile,human activity played a notable positive role in the southwestern and southeastern areas of the TRSR,covering 62.65%of the total area.Therefore,climate change had a significantly higher impact on NDVI during the growing season in the TRSR than human activity.展开更多
Changes in vegetation status generally also represents changes in the ecological health of islands and reefs(IRs).However,studies are limited of drivers and trends of vegetation change of Nansha Islands,China and how ...Changes in vegetation status generally also represents changes in the ecological health of islands and reefs(IRs).However,studies are limited of drivers and trends of vegetation change of Nansha Islands,China and how they relate to climate change and human activities.To resolve this limitation,we studied changes to the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI)vegetation-greenness index for 22 IRs of Nansha Islands during normal and extreme conditions.Trends of vegetation greenness were analyzed using Sen's slope and Mann-Kendall test at two spatial scales(pixel and island),and driving factor analyses were performed by time-lagged partial correlation analyses.These were related to impacts from human activities and climatic factors under normal(temperature,precipitation,radiation,and Normalized Difference Built-up Index(NDBI))and extreme conditions(wind speed and latitude of IRs)from 2016 to 2022.Results showed:1)among the 22 IRs,NDVI increased/decreased significantly in 15/4 IRs,respectively.Huayang Reef had the highest NDVI change-rate(0.48%/mon),and Zhongye Island had the lowest(–0.29%/mon).Local spatial patterns were in one of two forms:dotted-form,and degradation in banded-form.2)Under normal conditions,human activities(characterized by NDBI)had higher impacts on vegetation-greenness than other factors.3)Under extreme conditions,wind speed(R^(2)=0.2337,P<0.05)and latitude(R^(2)=0.2769,P<0.05)provided limited explanation for changes from typhoon events.Our results provide scientific support for the sustainable development of Nansha Islands and the United Nations‘Ocean Decade’initiative.展开更多
The Mongolian Plateau in East Asia is one of the largest contingent arid and semi-arid areas of the world.Under the impacts of climate change and human activities,desertification is becoming increasingly severe on the...The Mongolian Plateau in East Asia is one of the largest contingent arid and semi-arid areas of the world.Under the impacts of climate change and human activities,desertification is becoming increasingly severe on the Mongolian Plateau.Understanding the vegetation dynamics in this region can better characterize its ecological changes.In this study,based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS)images,we calculated the kernel normalized difference vegetation index(kNDVI)on the Mongolian Plateau from 2000 to 2023,and analyzed the changes in kNDVI using the Theil-Sen median trend analysis and Mann-Kendall significance test.We further investigated the impact of climate change on kNDVI change using partial correlation analysis and composite correlation analysis,and quantified the effects of climate change and human activities on kNDVI change by residual analysis.The results showed that kNDVI on the Mongolian Plateau was increasing overall,and the vegetation recovery area in the southern region was significantly larger than that in the northern region.About 50.99%of the plateau showed dominant climate-driven effects of temperature,precipitation,and wind speed on kNDVI change.Residual analysis showed that climate change and human activities together contributed to 94.79%of the areas with vegetation improvement.Appropriate human activities promoted the recovery of local vegetation,and climate change inhibited vegetation growth in the northern part of the Mongolian Plateau.This study provides scientific data for understanding the regional ecological environment status and future changes and developing effective ecological protection measures on the Mongolian Plateau.展开更多
Understanding the response of vegetation variation to climate change and human activities is critical for addressing future conflicts between humans and the environment,and maintaining ecosystem stability.Here,we aime...Understanding the response of vegetation variation to climate change and human activities is critical for addressing future conflicts between humans and the environment,and maintaining ecosystem stability.Here,we aimed to identify the determining factors of vegetation variation and explore the sensitivity of vegetation to temperature(SVT)and the sensitivity of vegetation to precipitation(SVP)in the Shiyang River Basin(SYRB)of China during 2001-2022.The climate data from climatic research unit(CRU),vegetation index data from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS),and land use data from Landsat images were used to analyze the spatial-temporal changes in vegetation indices,climate,and land use in the SYRB and its sub-basins(i.e.,upstream,midstream,and downstream basins)during 2001-2022.Linear regression analysis and correlation analysis were used to explore the SVT and SVP,revealing the driving factors of vegetation variation.Significant increasing trends(P<0.05)were detected for the enhanced vegetation index(EVI)and normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI)in the SYRB during 2001-2022,with most regions(84%)experiencing significant variation in vegetation,and land use change was determined as the dominant factor of vegetation variation.Non-significant decreasing trends were detected in the SVT and SVP of the SYRB during 2001-2022.There were spatial differences in vegetation variation,SVT,and SVP.Although NDVI and EVI exhibited increasing trends in the upstream,midstream,and downstream basins,the change slope in the downstream basin was lower than those in the upstream and midstream basins,the SVT in the upstream basin was higher than those in the midstream and downstream basins,and the SVP in the downstream basin was lower than those in the upstream and midstream basins.Temperature and precipitation changes controlled vegetation variation in the upstream and midstream basins while human activities(land use change)dominated vegetation variation in the downstream basin.We concluded that there is a spatial heterogeneity in the response of vegetation variation to climate change and human activities across different sub-basins of the SYRB.These findings can enhance our understanding of the relationship among vegetation variation,climate change,and human activities,and provide a reference for addressing future conflicts between humans and the environment in the arid inland river basins.展开更多
The abandonment of date palm grove of the former Al-Ahsa Oasis in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia has resulted in the conversion of delicate agricultural area into urban area.The current state of the oasis is influ...The abandonment of date palm grove of the former Al-Ahsa Oasis in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia has resulted in the conversion of delicate agricultural area into urban area.The current state of the oasis is influenced by both expansion and degradation factors.Therefore,it is important to study the spatiotemporal variation of vegetation cover for the sustainable management of oasis resources.This study used Landsat satellite images in 1987,2002,and 2021 to monitor the spatiotemporal variation of vegetation cover in the Al-Ahsa Oasis,applied multi-temporal Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI)data spanning from 1987 to 2021 to assess environmental and spatiotemporal variations that have occurred in the Al-Ahsa Oasis,and investigated the factors influencing these variation.This study reveals that there is a significant improvement in the ecological environment of the oasis during 1987–2021,with increase of NDVI values being higher than 0.10.In 2021,the highest NDVI value is generally above 0.70,while the lowest value remains largely unchanged.However,there is a remarkable increase in NDVI values between 0.20 and 0.30.The area of low NDVI values(0.00–0.20)has remained almost stable,but the region with high NDVI values(above 0.70)expands during 1987–2021.Furthermore,this study finds that in 1987–2002,the increase of vegetation cover is most notable in the northern region of the study area,whereas from 2002 to 2021,the increase of vegetation cover is mainly concentrated in the northern and southern regions of the study area.From 1987 to 2021,NDVI values exhibit the most pronounced variation,with a significant increase in the“green”zone(characterized by NDVI values exceeding 0.40),indicating a substantial enhancement in the ecological environment of the oasis.The NDVI classification is validated through 50 ground validation points in the study area,demonstrating a mean accuracy of 92.00%in the detection of vegetation cover.In general,both the user’s and producer’s accuracies of NDVI classification are extremely high in 1987,2002,and 2021.Finally,this study suggests that environmental authorities should strengthen their overall forestry project arrangements to combat sand encroachment and enhance the ecological environment of the Al-Ahsa Oasis.展开更多
Vegetation is an important factor linking the atmosphere,water,soil,and biological functions,and it plays a specific role in the climate change response and sustainable development of regional economies.However,little...Vegetation is an important factor linking the atmosphere,water,soil,and biological functions,and it plays a specific role in the climate change response and sustainable development of regional economies.However,little information is available on vegetation vulnerability and its driving mechanism.Therefore,studying temporal and spatial change characteristics of vegetation and their corresponding mechanisms is important for assessing ecosystem stability and formulating ecological policies in the Kherlen River Basin.We used Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS)normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI)remote sensing images from 2000 to 2020 to analyse temporal changes in NDVI with the autoregressive moving average model(ARMA)and the breaks for additive season trend(BFAST)in the basin and to assess natural,anthropogenic and topographic factors with the Geodetector model.The results show that:1)the long NDVI time series remained stable in the Kherlen River Basin from 2000 to 2020,with a certain significant mutation period from 2013 to 2017;2)the coefficient of variation(CV)in the analysis of the spatial NDVI was generally constant,mainly at the level of 0.01–0.07,and the spatial NDVI change was minimally impacted by external interference;and 3)temperature and precipitation are the key factors affecting the NDVI in the basin,and changes in local hydrothermal conditions directly affect the local NDVI.The results of this study could provide a scientific basis for the effective protection of the ecological environment and will aid in understanding the influence of vegetation change mechanisms and the corresponding factors.展开更多
Surface albedo is a quantitative indicator for land surface processes and climate modeling,and plays an important role in surface radiation balance and climate change.In this study,by means of the MCD43A3 surface albe...Surface albedo is a quantitative indicator for land surface processes and climate modeling,and plays an important role in surface radiation balance and climate change.In this study,by means of the MCD43A3 surface albedo product developed on the basis of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS),we analyzed the spatiotemporal variation,persistence status,land cover type differences,and annual and seasonal differences of surface albedo,as well as the relationship between surface albedo and various influencing factors(including Normalized Difference Snow Index(NDSI),precipitation,Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI),land surface temperature,soil moisture,air temperature,and digital elevation model(DEM))in the north of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region(northern Xinjiang)of Northwest China from 2010 to 2020 based on the unary linear regression,Hurst index,and Pearson's correlation coefficient analyses.Combined with the random forest(RF)model and geographical detector(Geodetector),the importance of the above-mentioned influencing factors as well as their interactions on surface albedo were quantitatively evaluated.The results showed that the seasonal average surface albedo in northern Xinjiang was the highest in winter and the lowest in summer.The annual average surface albedo from 2010 to 2020 was high in the west and north and low in the east and south,showing a weak decreasing trend and a small and stable overall variation.Land cover types had a significant impact on the variation of surface albedo.The annual average surface albedo in most regions of northern Xinjiang was positively correlated with NDSI and precipitation,and negatively correlated with NDVI,land surface temperature,soil moisture,and air temperature.In addition,the correlations between surface albedo and various influencing factors showed significant differences for different land cover types and in different seasons.To be specific,NDSI had the largest influence on surface albedo,followed by precipitation,land surface temperature,and soil moisture;whereas NDVI,air temperature,and DEM showed relatively weak influences.However,the interactions of any two influencing factors on surface albedo were enhanced,especially the interaction of air temperature and DEM.NDVI showed a nonlinear enhancement of influence on surface albedo when interacted with land surface temperature or precipitation,with an explanatory power greater than 92.00%.This study has a guiding significance in correctly understanding the land-atmosphere interactions in northern Xinjiang and improving the regional land-surface process simulation and climate prediction.展开更多
Climate change impacts on grasslands that cover a quarter of the global land area, have become unprecedented during the 21~(st) century. One of the important ecological realms, arid grasslands of northern China, which...Climate change impacts on grasslands that cover a quarter of the global land area, have become unprecedented during the 21~(st) century. One of the important ecological realms, arid grasslands of northern China, which occupy more than 70% of the region's land area. However, the impact of climate change on vegetation growth in these arid grasslands is not consistent and lacks corresponding quantitative research. In this study, NDVI(normalized difference vegetation index) and climate factors including temperature, precipitation, solar radiation, soil moisture, and meteorological drought were analyzed to explore the determinants of changes in grassland greenness in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region(northern China) during 1982–2016. The results showed that grasslands in Inner Mongolia witnessed an obvious trend of seasonal greening during the study period. Two prominent climatic factors,precipitation and soil moisture accounted for approximately 33% and 27% of grassland NDVI trends in the region based on multiple linear regression and boosted regression tree methods. This finding highlights the impact of water constraints to vegetation growth in Inner Mongolia's grasslands. The dominant role of precipitation in regulating grassland NDVI trends in Inner Mongolia significantly weakened from 1982 to 1996, and the role of soil moisture strengthened after 1996. Our findings emphasize the enhanced importance of soil moisture in driving vegetation growth in arid grasslands of Inner Mongolia, which should be thoroughly investigated in the future.展开更多
The effect of global climate change on vegetation growth is variable.Timely and effective monitoring of vegetation drought is crucial for understanding its dynamics and mitigation,and even regional protection of ecolo...The effect of global climate change on vegetation growth is variable.Timely and effective monitoring of vegetation drought is crucial for understanding its dynamics and mitigation,and even regional protection of ecological environments.In this study,we constructed a new drought index(i.e.,Vegetation Drought Condition Index(VDCI))based on precipitation,potential evapotranspiration,soil moisture and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI)data,to monitor vegetation drought in the nine major river basins(including the Songhua River and Liaohe River Basin,Haihe River Basin,Yellow River Basin,Huaihe River Basin,Yangtze River Basin,Southeast River Basin,Pearl River Basin,Southwest River Basin and Continental River Basin)in China at 1-month–12-month(T1–T12)time scales.We used the Pearson's correlation coefficients to assess the relationships between the drought indices(the developed VDCI and traditional drought indices including the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index(SPEI),Standardized Soil Moisture Index(SSMI)and Self-calibrating Palmer Drought Severity Index(scPDSI))and the NDVI at T1–T12 time scales,and to estimate and compare the lag times of vegetation response to drought among different drought indices.The results showed that precipitation and potential evapotranspiration have positive and major influences on vegetation in the nine major river basins at T1–T6 time scales.Soil moisture shows a lower degree of negative influence on vegetation in different river basins at multiple time scales.Potential evapotranspiration shows a higher degree of positive influence on vegetation,and it acts as the primary influencing factor with higher area proportion at multiple time scales in different river basins.The VDCI has a stronger relationship with the NDVI in the Songhua River and Liaohe River Basin,Haihe River Basin,Yellow River Basin,Huaihe River Basin and Yangtze River Basin at T1–T4 time scales.In general,the VDCI is more sensitive(with shorter lag time of vegetation response to drought)than the traditional drought indices(SPEI,scPDSI and SSMI)in monitoring vegetation drought,and thus it could be applied to monitor short-term vegetation drought.The VDCI developed in the study can reveal the law of unclear mechanisms between vegetation and climate,and can be applied in other fields of vegetation drought monitoring with complex mechanisms.展开更多
Land use Land cover (LULC) has undergone progressive changes worldwide over the years. However, there is limited information available about these changes in Oba Hills Forest Reserve, Nigeria. The existing spatial ana...Land use Land cover (LULC) has undergone progressive changes worldwide over the years. However, there is limited information available about these changes in Oba Hills Forest Reserve, Nigeria. The existing spatial analysis of the forest excluded important land use classes like settlements. Therefore, this study aimed at assessing the dynamics of LULC in Oba Hills Forest Reserve between 1987 and 2019. Images from Landsat 5, Landsat 7, and Landsat 8 for the years 1987, 2001, 2013, and 2019 were obtained and subjected to preprocessing and classification using the maximum likelihood algorithm, change detection, and Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI). The coordinates of specific benchmark locations and other points were acquired for ground-truthing and developing Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Three distinct LULC classes were identified: forest, bare land (including open spaces, agriculture, rocks, and grasslands), and built-up areas. The forest cover in the reserve gradually decreased from 56% in 1987 to 47% in 2019, resulting in a total area loss of 455.4 hectares. Correspondingly, the other LULC classes experienced exponential expansion. Bare land increased from 44% in 1987 to 52% in 2019, while the built-up area expanded by 57.28 hectares. These changes are attributed to prevalent anthropogenic activities such as agriculture, grazing, logging, firewood collection, and population growth within the catchment area. The declining NDVI values in the forest reserve, from 0.52 to 0.44 within the years of assessment, further substantiated the substantial loss of forest cover. The DEM and topographical map highlighted notable steep slopes and elevations of up to over 550 m above sea level (asl) within the reserve, which have implications for forest growth and dynamics. In conclusion, this study reveals extensive rates of forest cover changes into bare land, primarily for agriculture, and settlements, and offers further recommendations to reverse the trend.展开更多
After an international contest announced by the City of Abu Dhabi “Cool Abu Dhabi Challenge”<sup>1</sup> and the article published as a digest of a paper titled A Nature-based Solution [1], the decision ...After an international contest announced by the City of Abu Dhabi “Cool Abu Dhabi Challenge”<sup>1</sup> and the article published as a digest of a paper titled A Nature-based Solution [1], the decision has been made to take part in improving thermal comfort in public spaces by mitigating the impact of the effect of Urban Heat Islands (UHI)<sup>2</sup> in the city of the Belgrade. The basic research aims at achieving the balance between the conflicting impacts when the buildings with their infrastructure and water-green surrounding area are in such correlation that it fulfils acceptable living and heating standards and reduces the use of fossil fuels for cooling the urban areas (buildings). By implementing the remote detection it is possible to analyze and quantify the impact of over-building on the temperature rise in urban areas as well as the disturbance of the heating comfort and the increased demand for additional cooling. Now it is possible to create virtual models that will incorporate this newly-added urban vegetation into urban plans, depending on the evaporation potential that will affect the microclimate of the urban area. Such natural cooling can be measured and adapted and hence aimed at a potential decrease in areas with UHI emissions [2]. Suitable greenery in the summer season can be a useful improvement which concurrently enables and complements several cooling mechanisms—evaporative cooling and evapotranspiration, i.e. natural cooling systems. The remote detection shall establish and map the “healthy” and “unhealthy” greenery zones—that is the vegetation zones with the highest evaporative potential with the “cooling by evaporation” effect and also, by implementing the urban prediction model, it shall propose green infrastructure corridors aimed at a potential decrease in the Urban Heat Island Emission.展开更多
Study on seasonal responses of terrestrial net primary production (NPP) to climate changes is to help understand feedback between climate systems and terrestrial ecosystems and mechanisms of increased NPP in the north...Study on seasonal responses of terrestrial net primary production (NPP) to climate changes is to help understand feedback between climate systems and terrestrial ecosystems and mechanisms of increased NPP in the northern middle and high latitudes. In this study, time series dataset of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and corresponding ground-based information on vegetation, climate, soil, and solar radiation, together with an ecological process model, were used to explore the seasonal trends of terrestrial NPP and their geographical differences in China from 1982 to 1999. As the results,. seasonal total NPP in China showed a significant increase for all four seasons (spring, summer, autumn and winter) during the past 18 years. The spring NPP indicated the largest increase rate, while the summer NPP was with the largest increase in magnitude. The response of NPP to climate changes varied with different vegetation types. The increased NPP was primarily led by an advanced growing season for broadleaf evergreen forest, needle-leaf evergreen forest, and needle-leaf deciduous forest, whilst that was mainly due to enhanced vegetation activity (amplitude of growth cycle) during growing season for broadleaf deciduous forest, broadleaf and needle-leaf mixed forest, broadleaf trees with groundcover, perennial grasslands, broadleaf shrubs with grasslands, tundra, desert, and cultivation. The regions with the largest increase in spring NPP appeared mainly in eastern China, while the areas with the largest increase in summer NPP occurred in most parts of Northwestern China, Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, Mts. Xiaoxinganling-Changbaishan, Sanjiang Plain, Songliao Plain, Sichuan Basin, Leizhou Peninsula, part of the middle and lower Yangtze River, and southeastern mountainous areas of China. In autumn, the largest NPP increase appeared in Yunnan Plateau-Eastern Xizang and the areas around Hulun Lake. Such different ways of the NPP responses depended on regional climate attributes and their changes.展开更多
Land surface temperature (LST), which is heavily influenced by urban surface structures, is a significant parameter in urban environmental analysis. This study examined the effect impervious surfaces (IS) spatial ...Land surface temperature (LST), which is heavily influenced by urban surface structures, is a significant parameter in urban environmental analysis. This study examined the effect impervious surfaces (IS) spatial patterns have on LST in Beijing, China. A classification and regression tree model (CART) was adopted to estimate IS as a continuous variable using Landsat images from two seasons combined with QuickBird. LST was retrieved from the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) image to examine the relationships between IS and LST. The results revealed that CART was capable of consistently predicting LST with acceptable accuracy (correlation coefficient of 0.94 and the average error of 8.59%). Spatial patterns of IS exhibited changing gradients across the various urban-rural transects, with LST values showing a concentric shape that increased as you moved from the outskirts towards the downtown areas. Transect analysis also indicated that the changes in both IS and LST patterns were similar at various resolution levels, which suggests a distinct linear relationship between them. Results of correlation analysis further showed that IS tended to be positively correlated with LST, and that the correlation coefficients increased from 0.807 to 0.925 with increases in IS pixel size. The findings identified in this study provide a theoretical basis for improving urban planning efforts to lessen urban temperatures and thus dampen urban heat island effects.展开更多
Multi-temporal series of satellite SPOT-VEGETATION normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and normalized difference water index (NDWI) data from 1998 to 2007 were used for analyzing vegetation change of the eco...Multi-temporal series of satellite SPOT-VEGETATION normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and normalized difference water index (NDWI) data from 1998 to 2007 were used for analyzing vegetation change of the ecotone in the west of the Northeast China Plain. The yearly and monthly maximal values,anomalies and change rates of NDVI and NDWI were calculated to reveal the interannual and seasonal changes in vegetation cover and vegetation water content. Linear regression method was adopted to characterize the trends in vegetation change. The yearly maximal NDVI decreased from 0.41 in 1998 to 0.37 in 2007,implying the decreasing trend of vegetation activity. There was a significant decrease of maximal NDVI in spring and summer over the study period,while an increase trend was observed in autumn. The vegetation-improved regions and vegetation-degraded regions occupied 17.03% and 20.30% of the study area,respectively. The maximal NDWI over growing season dropped by 0.027 in 1998–2007,and about 15.15% of the study area showed a decreasing trend of water content. Vegetation water stress in autumn was better than that in spring. Vegetation cover and water content variations were sensitive to annual precipitation,autumn precipitation and summer temperature. The vegetation degradation trend in this ecotone might be induced by the warm-drying climate especially continuous spring and summer drought in the recent ten years.展开更多
The Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, or Tibetan Plateau, is a sensitive region for climate change, where the manifestation of global warming is particularly noticeable. The wide climate variability in this region significantly...The Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, or Tibetan Plateau, is a sensitive region for climate change, where the manifestation of global warming is particularly noticeable. The wide climate variability in this region significantly affects the local land ecosystem and could consequently lead to notable vegetation changes. In this paper, the interannual variations of the plateau vegetation are investigated using a 21-year normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) dataset to quantify the consequences of climate warming for the regional ecosystem and its interactions. The results show that vegetation coverage is best in the eastern and southern plateau regions and deteriorates toward the west and north. On the whole, vegetation activity demonstrates a gradual enhancement in an oscillatory manner during 1982-2002. The temporal variation also exhibits striking regional differences: an increasing trend is most apparent in the west, south, north and southeast, whereas a decreasing trend is present along the southern plateau boundary and in the central-east region. Covariance analysis between the NDVI and surface temperature/precipitation suggests that vegetation change is closely related to climate change. However, the controlling physical processes vary geographically. In the west and east, vegetation variability is found to be driven predominantly by temperature, with the impact of precipitation being of secondary importance. In the central plateau, however, temperature and precipitation factors are equally important in modulating the interannual vegetation variability.展开更多
Net primary productivity(NPP), as an important variable and ecological indicator in grassland ecosystems, can reflect environmental change and the carbon budget level. The Ili River Valley is a wetland nestled in th...Net primary productivity(NPP), as an important variable and ecological indicator in grassland ecosystems, can reflect environmental change and the carbon budget level. The Ili River Valley is a wetland nestled in the hinterland of the Eurasian continent, which responds sensitively to the global climate change. Understanding carbon budget and their responses to climate change in the ecosystem of Ili River Valley has a significant effect on the adaptability of future climate change and sustainable development. In this study, we calculated the NPP and analyzed its spatio-temporal pattern of the Ili River Valley during the period 2000–2014 using the normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI) and an improved Carnegie-Ames-Stanford(CASA) model. Results indicate that validation showed a good performance of CASA over the study region, with an overall coefficient of determination(R2) of 0.65 and root mean square error(RMSE) of 20.86 g C/(m^2·a). Temporally, annual NPP of the Ili River Valley was 599.19 g C/(m^2·a) and showed a decreasing trend from 2000 to 2014, with an annual decrease rate of –3.51 g C/(m^2·a). However, the spatial variation was not consistent, in which 55.69% of the areas showed a decreasing tendency, 12.60% of the areas remained relatively stable and 31.71% appeared an increasing tendency. In addition, the decreasing trends in NPP were not continuous throughout the 15-year period, which was likely being caused by a shift in climate conditions. Precipitation was found to be the dominant climatic factor that controlled the inter-annual variability in NPP. Furthermore, the correlations between NPP and climate factors differed along the vertical zonal. In the medium-high altitudes of the Ili River Valley, the NPP was positively correlated to precipitation and negatively correlated to temperature and net radiation. In the low-altitude valley and high-altitude mountain areas, the NPP showed a negative correlation with precipitation and a weakly positive correlation with temperature and net radiation. The results suggested that the vegetation of the Ili River Valley degraded in recent years, and there was a more complex mechanism of local hydrothermal redistribution that controlled the growth of vegetation in this valley ecosystem.展开更多
文摘Understanding the topography in active tectonic areas and assessing the rates and models of active deformation in the upper crust are primary objectives in tectonic geomorphology studies. The drainage pattern of river systems is highly sensitive to tectonically induced changes, and it often preserves the records of the formation and progression of most tectono-geomorphic processes within its boundaries. Therefore, the evolution of landforms is a consequence of the evolution of individual drainage basins in which they are formed. Assessing the rates of tectonic deformation using geomorphic data is a traditionally adopted method to characterize the nature of active faults. Globally, the Digital Elevation Model(DEM) is widely used as a crucial tool to analyze the morphotectonic features of drainage basins. In this study, some geomorphic indices were applied to investigate the impact of tectonism on landscape along the Karahay?t Fault and its associated drainage areas. These geomorphic indices are mountain front sinuosity(Smf values between 1.17-1.52), valley floor width-to-height ratio(Vf values between 0.25-1.46), basin asymmetry factor(AF values between 15-72), drainage basin shape(Bs values between 3.18-6.01), hypsometric integral and curve(HI values between 0.32-047), channel sinuosity(S values between 1-1.6), normalized steepness index(Ksn values between 1-390) and Chi integral(χ values between 200-4400). The development of drainage areas on the hanging wall and footwall block of the Karahayit Fault differs depending on the uplift. The drainage areas developed on the hanging wall present different patterns depending on the regional uplift caused by the fault. This reveals that the fault contributed significantly to the development of drainage areas and regional uplift in the region. In addition, the maximum earthquake magnitude that may occur in the future on the Karahayit Fault, whose activity is supported by geomorphic indices, is calculated as 6.23. Since an earthquake of this magnitude may cause loss of life and property in the region, precautions should be taken.
基金supported by the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP) (2019QZKK0903)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 42071017)+1 种基金the science and technology research program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment (No.IMHE-ZDRW-03)the Alliance of International Science Organizations (ANSO) provided funding for a master's degree
文摘Climate warming is constantly causing hydro-meteorological perturbations,especially in high-altitude mountainous regions,which lead to the occurrences of landslides.The impact of climatic variables(i.e.,precipitation and temperature)on the distribution of landslides in the eastern regions of the Himalayas is poorly understood.To address this,the current study analyzes the relationship between the spatial distribution of landslide characteristics and climatic variables from 2013 to 2021.Google Earth Engine(GEE)was employed to make landslide inventories using satellite data.The results show that 2163,6927,and 9601 landslides were heterogeneously distributed across the study area in 2013,2017,and 2021,respectively.The maximum annual temperature was positively correlated with the distribution of landslides,whereas precipitation was found to have a non-significant impact on the landslide distribution.Spatially,most of the landslides occurred in areas with maximum annual precipitation ranging from 800 to 1600 mm and maximum annual temperature above 15℃.However,in certain regions,earthquake disruptions marginally affected the occurrence of landslides.Landslides were highly distributed in areas with elevations ranging between 3000 and 5000 m above sea level,and many landslides occurred near the lower permafrost limit and close to glaciers.The latter indicates that temperature change-induced freeze-thaw action influences landslides in the region.Temperature changes have shown a positive correlation with the number of landslides within elevations,indicating that temperature affects their spatial distribution.Various climate projections suggest that the region will experience further warming,which will increase the likelihood of landslides in the future.Thus,it is crucial to enhance ground observation capabilities and climate datasets to effectively monitor and mitigate landslide risks.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.42205059 and 42005075)the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant Nos.XDA23090303 and XDB40010302)+1 种基金the State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science(Grant No.SKLCS-ZZ-2024 and SKLCS-ZZ-2023)the Key Laboratory of Mountain Hazards and Earth Surface Processes.
文摘Little is known about the mechanism of climate-vegetation coverage coupled changes in the Tibetan Plateau(TP)region,which is the most climatically sensitive and ecologically fragile region with the highest terrain in the world.This study,using multisource datasets(including satellite data and meteorological observations and reanalysis data)revealed the mutual feedback mechanisms between changes in climate(temperature and precipitation)and vegetation coverage in recent decades in the Hengduan Mountains Area(HMA)of the southeastern TP and their influences on climate in the downstream region,the Sichuan Basin(SCB).There is mutual facilitation between rising air temperature and increasing vegetation coverage in the HMA,which is most significant during winter,and then during spring,but insignificant during summer and autumn.Rising temperature significantly enhances local vegetation coverage,and vegetation greening in turn heats the atmosphere via enhancing net heat flux from the surface to the atmosphere.The atmospheric heating anomaly over the HMA thickens the atmospheric column and increases upper air pressure.The high pressure anomaly disperses downstream via the westerly flow,expands across the SCB,and eventually increases the SCB temperature.This effect lasts from winter to the following spring,which may cause the maximum increasing trend of the SCB temperature and vegetation coverage in spring.These results are helpful for estimating future trends in climate and eco-environmental variations in the HMA and SCB under warming scenarios,as well as seasonal forecasting based on the connection between the HMA eco-environment and SCB climate.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42377472, 42174055)the Jiangxi Provincial Social Science "Fourteenth Five-Year Plan" (2024) Fund Project (24GL45)+1 种基金the Research Center of Resource and Environment Economics (20RGL01)the Provincial Finance Project of Jiangxi Academy of Sciences-Young Talent Cultivation Program (2023YSBG50010)
文摘The Three-River Source Region(TRSR)in China holds a vital position and exhibits an irreplaceable strategic importance in ecological preservation at the national level.On the basis of an in-depth study of the vegetation evolution in the TRSR from 2000 to 2022,we conducted a detailed analysis of the feedback mechanism of vegetation growth to climate change and human activity for different vegetation types.During the growing season,the spatiotemporal variations of normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI)for different vegetation types in the TRSR were analyzed using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS)-NDVI data and meteorological data from 2000 to 2022.In addition,the response characteristics of vegetation to temperature,precipitation,and human activity were assessed using trend analysis,partial correlation analysis,and residual analysis.Results indicated that,after in-depth research,from 2000 to 2022,the TRSR's average NDVI during the growing season was 0.3482.The preliminary ranking of the average NDVI for different vegetation types was as follows:shrubland(0.5762)>forest(0.5443)>meadow(0.4219)>highland vegetation(0.2223)>steppe(0.2159).The NDVI during the growing season exhibited a fluctuating growth trend,with an average growth rate of 0.0018/10a(P<0.01).Notably,forests displayed a significant development trend throughout the growing season,possessing the fastest rate of change in NDVI(0.0028/10a).Moreover,the upward trends in NDVI for forests and steppes exhibited extensive spatial distributions,with significant increases accounting for 95.23%and 93.80%,respectively.The sensitivity to precipitation was significantly enhanced in other vegetation types other than highland vegetation.By contrast,steppes,meadows,and highland vegetation demonstrated relatively high vulnerability to temperature fluctuations.A further detailed analysis revealed that climate change had a significant positive impact on the TRSR from 2000 to 2022,particularly in its northwestern areas,accounting for 85.05%of the total area.Meanwhile,human activity played a notable positive role in the southwestern and southeastern areas of the TRSR,covering 62.65%of the total area.Therefore,climate change had a significantly higher impact on NDVI during the growing season in the TRSR than human activity.
基金Under the auspices of National Key Research and Development Program of China (No.2022YFC3103103)。
文摘Changes in vegetation status generally also represents changes in the ecological health of islands and reefs(IRs).However,studies are limited of drivers and trends of vegetation change of Nansha Islands,China and how they relate to climate change and human activities.To resolve this limitation,we studied changes to the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI)vegetation-greenness index for 22 IRs of Nansha Islands during normal and extreme conditions.Trends of vegetation greenness were analyzed using Sen's slope and Mann-Kendall test at two spatial scales(pixel and island),and driving factor analyses were performed by time-lagged partial correlation analyses.These were related to impacts from human activities and climatic factors under normal(temperature,precipitation,radiation,and Normalized Difference Built-up Index(NDBI))and extreme conditions(wind speed and latitude of IRs)from 2016 to 2022.Results showed:1)among the 22 IRs,NDVI increased/decreased significantly in 15/4 IRs,respectively.Huayang Reef had the highest NDVI change-rate(0.48%/mon),and Zhongye Island had the lowest(–0.29%/mon).Local spatial patterns were in one of two forms:dotted-form,and degradation in banded-form.2)Under normal conditions,human activities(characterized by NDBI)had higher impacts on vegetation-greenness than other factors.3)Under extreme conditions,wind speed(R^(2)=0.2337,P<0.05)and latitude(R^(2)=0.2769,P<0.05)provided limited explanation for changes from typhoon events.Our results provide scientific support for the sustainable development of Nansha Islands and the United Nations‘Ocean Decade’initiative.
基金National Key Research and Development Program on Enhancement of Soil and Water Ecological Security and Guarantee Technology in Desert Oasis Areas(2023YFF130420103)Three North Project of Xinhua Forestry Highland Demonstration Science and Technology Construction Project,the Technology and Demonstration of Near-Natural Modification of Artificial Protective Forest Structures and Enhancement of Soil and Water Conservation Functions in Ecological Protection Belt(2023YFF1305201)+2 种基金Multi-dimensional Coupled Soil-surface-groundwater Hydrological Processes and Vegetation Regulation Mechanism in Loess Area of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(U2243202)Hot Tracking Program of Beijing Forestry University"Planting a Billion Trees"Program and China-Mongolia Cooperation on Desertification in China(2023BLRD04)Research on Ecological Photovoltaic Vegetation Configuration Model and Restoration Technology(AMKJ2023-17).
文摘The Mongolian Plateau in East Asia is one of the largest contingent arid and semi-arid areas of the world.Under the impacts of climate change and human activities,desertification is becoming increasingly severe on the Mongolian Plateau.Understanding the vegetation dynamics in this region can better characterize its ecological changes.In this study,based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS)images,we calculated the kernel normalized difference vegetation index(kNDVI)on the Mongolian Plateau from 2000 to 2023,and analyzed the changes in kNDVI using the Theil-Sen median trend analysis and Mann-Kendall significance test.We further investigated the impact of climate change on kNDVI change using partial correlation analysis and composite correlation analysis,and quantified the effects of climate change and human activities on kNDVI change by residual analysis.The results showed that kNDVI on the Mongolian Plateau was increasing overall,and the vegetation recovery area in the southern region was significantly larger than that in the northern region.About 50.99%of the plateau showed dominant climate-driven effects of temperature,precipitation,and wind speed on kNDVI change.Residual analysis showed that climate change and human activities together contributed to 94.79%of the areas with vegetation improvement.Appropriate human activities promoted the recovery of local vegetation,and climate change inhibited vegetation growth in the northern part of the Mongolian Plateau.This study provides scientific data for understanding the regional ecological environment status and future changes and developing effective ecological protection measures on the Mongolian Plateau.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China(42230720).
文摘Understanding the response of vegetation variation to climate change and human activities is critical for addressing future conflicts between humans and the environment,and maintaining ecosystem stability.Here,we aimed to identify the determining factors of vegetation variation and explore the sensitivity of vegetation to temperature(SVT)and the sensitivity of vegetation to precipitation(SVP)in the Shiyang River Basin(SYRB)of China during 2001-2022.The climate data from climatic research unit(CRU),vegetation index data from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS),and land use data from Landsat images were used to analyze the spatial-temporal changes in vegetation indices,climate,and land use in the SYRB and its sub-basins(i.e.,upstream,midstream,and downstream basins)during 2001-2022.Linear regression analysis and correlation analysis were used to explore the SVT and SVP,revealing the driving factors of vegetation variation.Significant increasing trends(P<0.05)were detected for the enhanced vegetation index(EVI)and normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI)in the SYRB during 2001-2022,with most regions(84%)experiencing significant variation in vegetation,and land use change was determined as the dominant factor of vegetation variation.Non-significant decreasing trends were detected in the SVT and SVP of the SYRB during 2001-2022.There were spatial differences in vegetation variation,SVT,and SVP.Although NDVI and EVI exhibited increasing trends in the upstream,midstream,and downstream basins,the change slope in the downstream basin was lower than those in the upstream and midstream basins,the SVT in the upstream basin was higher than those in the midstream and downstream basins,and the SVP in the downstream basin was lower than those in the upstream and midstream basins.Temperature and precipitation changes controlled vegetation variation in the upstream and midstream basins while human activities(land use change)dominated vegetation variation in the downstream basin.We concluded that there is a spatial heterogeneity in the response of vegetation variation to climate change and human activities across different sub-basins of the SYRB.These findings can enhance our understanding of the relationship among vegetation variation,climate change,and human activities,and provide a reference for addressing future conflicts between humans and the environment in the arid inland river basins.
文摘The abandonment of date palm grove of the former Al-Ahsa Oasis in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia has resulted in the conversion of delicate agricultural area into urban area.The current state of the oasis is influenced by both expansion and degradation factors.Therefore,it is important to study the spatiotemporal variation of vegetation cover for the sustainable management of oasis resources.This study used Landsat satellite images in 1987,2002,and 2021 to monitor the spatiotemporal variation of vegetation cover in the Al-Ahsa Oasis,applied multi-temporal Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI)data spanning from 1987 to 2021 to assess environmental and spatiotemporal variations that have occurred in the Al-Ahsa Oasis,and investigated the factors influencing these variation.This study reveals that there is a significant improvement in the ecological environment of the oasis during 1987–2021,with increase of NDVI values being higher than 0.10.In 2021,the highest NDVI value is generally above 0.70,while the lowest value remains largely unchanged.However,there is a remarkable increase in NDVI values between 0.20 and 0.30.The area of low NDVI values(0.00–0.20)has remained almost stable,but the region with high NDVI values(above 0.70)expands during 1987–2021.Furthermore,this study finds that in 1987–2002,the increase of vegetation cover is most notable in the northern region of the study area,whereas from 2002 to 2021,the increase of vegetation cover is mainly concentrated in the northern and southern regions of the study area.From 1987 to 2021,NDVI values exhibit the most pronounced variation,with a significant increase in the“green”zone(characterized by NDVI values exceeding 0.40),indicating a substantial enhancement in the ecological environment of the oasis.The NDVI classification is validated through 50 ground validation points in the study area,demonstrating a mean accuracy of 92.00%in the detection of vegetation cover.In general,both the user’s and producer’s accuracies of NDVI classification are extremely high in 1987,2002,and 2021.Finally,this study suggests that environmental authorities should strengthen their overall forestry project arrangements to combat sand encroachment and enhance the ecological environment of the Al-Ahsa Oasis.
基金Under the auspices of Project of Inner Mongolia Normal University to Introduce High-level Talents to Start Scientific Research (No.1004021709)Key Special Project of Inner Mongolia (No.2020ZD0028)Science and Technology Planning Project of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (No.2022YFSH0027)。
文摘Vegetation is an important factor linking the atmosphere,water,soil,and biological functions,and it plays a specific role in the climate change response and sustainable development of regional economies.However,little information is available on vegetation vulnerability and its driving mechanism.Therefore,studying temporal and spatial change characteristics of vegetation and their corresponding mechanisms is important for assessing ecosystem stability and formulating ecological policies in the Kherlen River Basin.We used Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS)normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI)remote sensing images from 2000 to 2020 to analyse temporal changes in NDVI with the autoregressive moving average model(ARMA)and the breaks for additive season trend(BFAST)in the basin and to assess natural,anthropogenic and topographic factors with the Geodetector model.The results show that:1)the long NDVI time series remained stable in the Kherlen River Basin from 2000 to 2020,with a certain significant mutation period from 2013 to 2017;2)the coefficient of variation(CV)in the analysis of the spatial NDVI was generally constant,mainly at the level of 0.01–0.07,and the spatial NDVI change was minimally impacted by external interference;and 3)temperature and precipitation are the key factors affecting the NDVI in the basin,and changes in local hydrothermal conditions directly affect the local NDVI.The results of this study could provide a scientific basis for the effective protection of the ecological environment and will aid in understanding the influence of vegetation change mechanisms and the corresponding factors.
基金This research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2019YFC1510505)the Xinjiang University PhD Start-up Fund(BS210226)the National College Student Research Training Plan of China(202210755004).
文摘Surface albedo is a quantitative indicator for land surface processes and climate modeling,and plays an important role in surface radiation balance and climate change.In this study,by means of the MCD43A3 surface albedo product developed on the basis of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS),we analyzed the spatiotemporal variation,persistence status,land cover type differences,and annual and seasonal differences of surface albedo,as well as the relationship between surface albedo and various influencing factors(including Normalized Difference Snow Index(NDSI),precipitation,Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI),land surface temperature,soil moisture,air temperature,and digital elevation model(DEM))in the north of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region(northern Xinjiang)of Northwest China from 2010 to 2020 based on the unary linear regression,Hurst index,and Pearson's correlation coefficient analyses.Combined with the random forest(RF)model and geographical detector(Geodetector),the importance of the above-mentioned influencing factors as well as their interactions on surface albedo were quantitatively evaluated.The results showed that the seasonal average surface albedo in northern Xinjiang was the highest in winter and the lowest in summer.The annual average surface albedo from 2010 to 2020 was high in the west and north and low in the east and south,showing a weak decreasing trend and a small and stable overall variation.Land cover types had a significant impact on the variation of surface albedo.The annual average surface albedo in most regions of northern Xinjiang was positively correlated with NDSI and precipitation,and negatively correlated with NDVI,land surface temperature,soil moisture,and air temperature.In addition,the correlations between surface albedo and various influencing factors showed significant differences for different land cover types and in different seasons.To be specific,NDSI had the largest influence on surface albedo,followed by precipitation,land surface temperature,and soil moisture;whereas NDVI,air temperature,and DEM showed relatively weak influences.However,the interactions of any two influencing factors on surface albedo were enhanced,especially the interaction of air temperature and DEM.NDVI showed a nonlinear enhancement of influence on surface albedo when interacted with land surface temperature or precipitation,with an explanatory power greater than 92.00%.This study has a guiding significance in correctly understanding the land-atmosphere interactions in northern Xinjiang and improving the regional land-surface process simulation and climate prediction.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42101295)the Science and Technology Department of Jiangsu (BK20210657)the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China (21KJB170003)。
文摘Climate change impacts on grasslands that cover a quarter of the global land area, have become unprecedented during the 21~(st) century. One of the important ecological realms, arid grasslands of northern China, which occupy more than 70% of the region's land area. However, the impact of climate change on vegetation growth in these arid grasslands is not consistent and lacks corresponding quantitative research. In this study, NDVI(normalized difference vegetation index) and climate factors including temperature, precipitation, solar radiation, soil moisture, and meteorological drought were analyzed to explore the determinants of changes in grassland greenness in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region(northern China) during 1982–2016. The results showed that grasslands in Inner Mongolia witnessed an obvious trend of seasonal greening during the study period. Two prominent climatic factors,precipitation and soil moisture accounted for approximately 33% and 27% of grassland NDVI trends in the region based on multiple linear regression and boosted regression tree methods. This finding highlights the impact of water constraints to vegetation growth in Inner Mongolia's grasslands. The dominant role of precipitation in regulating grassland NDVI trends in Inner Mongolia significantly weakened from 1982 to 1996, and the role of soil moisture strengthened after 1996. Our findings emphasize the enhanced importance of soil moisture in driving vegetation growth in arid grasslands of Inner Mongolia, which should be thoroughly investigated in the future.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(52179015,42301024)the Key Technologies Research&Development and Promotion Program of Henan(232102110025)the Cultivation Plan of Innovative Scientific and Technological Team of Water Conservancy Engineering Discipline of North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power(CXTDPY-9).
文摘The effect of global climate change on vegetation growth is variable.Timely and effective monitoring of vegetation drought is crucial for understanding its dynamics and mitigation,and even regional protection of ecological environments.In this study,we constructed a new drought index(i.e.,Vegetation Drought Condition Index(VDCI))based on precipitation,potential evapotranspiration,soil moisture and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI)data,to monitor vegetation drought in the nine major river basins(including the Songhua River and Liaohe River Basin,Haihe River Basin,Yellow River Basin,Huaihe River Basin,Yangtze River Basin,Southeast River Basin,Pearl River Basin,Southwest River Basin and Continental River Basin)in China at 1-month–12-month(T1–T12)time scales.We used the Pearson's correlation coefficients to assess the relationships between the drought indices(the developed VDCI and traditional drought indices including the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index(SPEI),Standardized Soil Moisture Index(SSMI)and Self-calibrating Palmer Drought Severity Index(scPDSI))and the NDVI at T1–T12 time scales,and to estimate and compare the lag times of vegetation response to drought among different drought indices.The results showed that precipitation and potential evapotranspiration have positive and major influences on vegetation in the nine major river basins at T1–T6 time scales.Soil moisture shows a lower degree of negative influence on vegetation in different river basins at multiple time scales.Potential evapotranspiration shows a higher degree of positive influence on vegetation,and it acts as the primary influencing factor with higher area proportion at multiple time scales in different river basins.The VDCI has a stronger relationship with the NDVI in the Songhua River and Liaohe River Basin,Haihe River Basin,Yellow River Basin,Huaihe River Basin and Yangtze River Basin at T1–T4 time scales.In general,the VDCI is more sensitive(with shorter lag time of vegetation response to drought)than the traditional drought indices(SPEI,scPDSI and SSMI)in monitoring vegetation drought,and thus it could be applied to monitor short-term vegetation drought.The VDCI developed in the study can reveal the law of unclear mechanisms between vegetation and climate,and can be applied in other fields of vegetation drought monitoring with complex mechanisms.
文摘Land use Land cover (LULC) has undergone progressive changes worldwide over the years. However, there is limited information available about these changes in Oba Hills Forest Reserve, Nigeria. The existing spatial analysis of the forest excluded important land use classes like settlements. Therefore, this study aimed at assessing the dynamics of LULC in Oba Hills Forest Reserve between 1987 and 2019. Images from Landsat 5, Landsat 7, and Landsat 8 for the years 1987, 2001, 2013, and 2019 were obtained and subjected to preprocessing and classification using the maximum likelihood algorithm, change detection, and Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI). The coordinates of specific benchmark locations and other points were acquired for ground-truthing and developing Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Three distinct LULC classes were identified: forest, bare land (including open spaces, agriculture, rocks, and grasslands), and built-up areas. The forest cover in the reserve gradually decreased from 56% in 1987 to 47% in 2019, resulting in a total area loss of 455.4 hectares. Correspondingly, the other LULC classes experienced exponential expansion. Bare land increased from 44% in 1987 to 52% in 2019, while the built-up area expanded by 57.28 hectares. These changes are attributed to prevalent anthropogenic activities such as agriculture, grazing, logging, firewood collection, and population growth within the catchment area. The declining NDVI values in the forest reserve, from 0.52 to 0.44 within the years of assessment, further substantiated the substantial loss of forest cover. The DEM and topographical map highlighted notable steep slopes and elevations of up to over 550 m above sea level (asl) within the reserve, which have implications for forest growth and dynamics. In conclusion, this study reveals extensive rates of forest cover changes into bare land, primarily for agriculture, and settlements, and offers further recommendations to reverse the trend.
文摘After an international contest announced by the City of Abu Dhabi “Cool Abu Dhabi Challenge”<sup>1</sup> and the article published as a digest of a paper titled A Nature-based Solution [1], the decision has been made to take part in improving thermal comfort in public spaces by mitigating the impact of the effect of Urban Heat Islands (UHI)<sup>2</sup> in the city of the Belgrade. The basic research aims at achieving the balance between the conflicting impacts when the buildings with their infrastructure and water-green surrounding area are in such correlation that it fulfils acceptable living and heating standards and reduces the use of fossil fuels for cooling the urban areas (buildings). By implementing the remote detection it is possible to analyze and quantify the impact of over-building on the temperature rise in urban areas as well as the disturbance of the heating comfort and the increased demand for additional cooling. Now it is possible to create virtual models that will incorporate this newly-added urban vegetation into urban plans, depending on the evaporation potential that will affect the microclimate of the urban area. Such natural cooling can be measured and adapted and hence aimed at a potential decrease in areas with UHI emissions [2]. Suitable greenery in the summer season can be a useful improvement which concurrently enables and complements several cooling mechanisms—evaporative cooling and evapotranspiration, i.e. natural cooling systems. The remote detection shall establish and map the “healthy” and “unhealthy” greenery zones—that is the vegetation zones with the highest evaporative potential with the “cooling by evaporation” effect and also, by implementing the urban prediction model, it shall propose green infrastructure corridors aimed at a potential decrease in the Urban Heat Island Emission.
文摘Study on seasonal responses of terrestrial net primary production (NPP) to climate changes is to help understand feedback between climate systems and terrestrial ecosystems and mechanisms of increased NPP in the northern middle and high latitudes. In this study, time series dataset of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and corresponding ground-based information on vegetation, climate, soil, and solar radiation, together with an ecological process model, were used to explore the seasonal trends of terrestrial NPP and their geographical differences in China from 1982 to 1999. As the results,. seasonal total NPP in China showed a significant increase for all four seasons (spring, summer, autumn and winter) during the past 18 years. The spring NPP indicated the largest increase rate, while the summer NPP was with the largest increase in magnitude. The response of NPP to climate changes varied with different vegetation types. The increased NPP was primarily led by an advanced growing season for broadleaf evergreen forest, needle-leaf evergreen forest, and needle-leaf deciduous forest, whilst that was mainly due to enhanced vegetation activity (amplitude of growth cycle) during growing season for broadleaf deciduous forest, broadleaf and needle-leaf mixed forest, broadleaf trees with groundcover, perennial grasslands, broadleaf shrubs with grasslands, tundra, desert, and cultivation. The regions with the largest increase in spring NPP appeared mainly in eastern China, while the areas with the largest increase in summer NPP occurred in most parts of Northwestern China, Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, Mts. Xiaoxinganling-Changbaishan, Sanjiang Plain, Songliao Plain, Sichuan Basin, Leizhou Peninsula, part of the middle and lower Yangtze River, and southeastern mountainous areas of China. In autumn, the largest NPP increase appeared in Yunnan Plateau-Eastern Xizang and the areas around Hulun Lake. Such different ways of the NPP responses depended on regional climate attributes and their changes.
基金Project supported by the Pilot Project of Knowledge Innovadon Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KZCX32SW2424).
文摘Land surface temperature (LST), which is heavily influenced by urban surface structures, is a significant parameter in urban environmental analysis. This study examined the effect impervious surfaces (IS) spatial patterns have on LST in Beijing, China. A classification and regression tree model (CART) was adopted to estimate IS as a continuous variable using Landsat images from two seasons combined with QuickBird. LST was retrieved from the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) image to examine the relationships between IS and LST. The results revealed that CART was capable of consistently predicting LST with acceptable accuracy (correlation coefficient of 0.94 and the average error of 8.59%). Spatial patterns of IS exhibited changing gradients across the various urban-rural transects, with LST values showing a concentric shape that increased as you moved from the outskirts towards the downtown areas. Transect analysis also indicated that the changes in both IS and LST patterns were similar at various resolution levels, which suggests a distinct linear relationship between them. Results of correlation analysis further showed that IS tended to be positively correlated with LST, and that the correlation coefficients increased from 0.807 to 0.925 with increases in IS pixel size. The findings identified in this study provide a theoretical basis for improving urban planning efforts to lessen urban temperatures and thus dampen urban heat island effects.
基金Under the auspices of Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (973 Program) (No. 2009CB426305)National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30370267) "Eleventh Five-year" Science and Technology In-novation Platform Foster Program of Northeast Normal University (No. 106111065202)
文摘Multi-temporal series of satellite SPOT-VEGETATION normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and normalized difference water index (NDWI) data from 1998 to 2007 were used for analyzing vegetation change of the ecotone in the west of the Northeast China Plain. The yearly and monthly maximal values,anomalies and change rates of NDVI and NDWI were calculated to reveal the interannual and seasonal changes in vegetation cover and vegetation water content. Linear regression method was adopted to characterize the trends in vegetation change. The yearly maximal NDVI decreased from 0.41 in 1998 to 0.37 in 2007,implying the decreasing trend of vegetation activity. There was a significant decrease of maximal NDVI in spring and summer over the study period,while an increase trend was observed in autumn. The vegetation-improved regions and vegetation-degraded regions occupied 17.03% and 20.30% of the study area,respectively. The maximal NDWI over growing season dropped by 0.027 in 1998–2007,and about 15.15% of the study area showed a decreasing trend of water content. Vegetation water stress in autumn was better than that in spring. Vegetation cover and water content variations were sensitive to annual precipitation,autumn precipitation and summer temperature. The vegetation degradation trend in this ecotone might be induced by the warm-drying climate especially continuous spring and summer drought in the recent ten years.
基金supported by the foundation from:the program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(40675037)the key program of the Sichuan Province Youth Science and Technology Fund(05ZQ026-023)the opening project of the State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics,Institute of Atmospheric Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences.
文摘The Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, or Tibetan Plateau, is a sensitive region for climate change, where the manifestation of global warming is particularly noticeable. The wide climate variability in this region significantly affects the local land ecosystem and could consequently lead to notable vegetation changes. In this paper, the interannual variations of the plateau vegetation are investigated using a 21-year normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) dataset to quantify the consequences of climate warming for the regional ecosystem and its interactions. The results show that vegetation coverage is best in the eastern and southern plateau regions and deteriorates toward the west and north. On the whole, vegetation activity demonstrates a gradual enhancement in an oscillatory manner during 1982-2002. The temporal variation also exhibits striking regional differences: an increasing trend is most apparent in the west, south, north and southeast, whereas a decreasing trend is present along the southern plateau boundary and in the central-east region. Covariance analysis between the NDVI and surface temperature/precipitation suggests that vegetation change is closely related to climate change. However, the controlling physical processes vary geographically. In the west and east, vegetation variability is found to be driven predominantly by temperature, with the impact of precipitation being of secondary importance. In the central plateau, however, temperature and precipitation factors are equally important in modulating the interannual vegetation variability.
基金supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDA19030204)the West Light Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences(2015-XBQN-B-17)
文摘Net primary productivity(NPP), as an important variable and ecological indicator in grassland ecosystems, can reflect environmental change and the carbon budget level. The Ili River Valley is a wetland nestled in the hinterland of the Eurasian continent, which responds sensitively to the global climate change. Understanding carbon budget and their responses to climate change in the ecosystem of Ili River Valley has a significant effect on the adaptability of future climate change and sustainable development. In this study, we calculated the NPP and analyzed its spatio-temporal pattern of the Ili River Valley during the period 2000–2014 using the normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI) and an improved Carnegie-Ames-Stanford(CASA) model. Results indicate that validation showed a good performance of CASA over the study region, with an overall coefficient of determination(R2) of 0.65 and root mean square error(RMSE) of 20.86 g C/(m^2·a). Temporally, annual NPP of the Ili River Valley was 599.19 g C/(m^2·a) and showed a decreasing trend from 2000 to 2014, with an annual decrease rate of –3.51 g C/(m^2·a). However, the spatial variation was not consistent, in which 55.69% of the areas showed a decreasing tendency, 12.60% of the areas remained relatively stable and 31.71% appeared an increasing tendency. In addition, the decreasing trends in NPP were not continuous throughout the 15-year period, which was likely being caused by a shift in climate conditions. Precipitation was found to be the dominant climatic factor that controlled the inter-annual variability in NPP. Furthermore, the correlations between NPP and climate factors differed along the vertical zonal. In the medium-high altitudes of the Ili River Valley, the NPP was positively correlated to precipitation and negatively correlated to temperature and net radiation. In the low-altitude valley and high-altitude mountain areas, the NPP showed a negative correlation with precipitation and a weakly positive correlation with temperature and net radiation. The results suggested that the vegetation of the Ili River Valley degraded in recent years, and there was a more complex mechanism of local hydrothermal redistribution that controlled the growth of vegetation in this valley ecosystem.