Hydrological response to land use and land cover changes in a sub-watershed of West Liaohe River Basin,China

In recent years, the streamflow of the Laohahe Basin in China showed a dramatic decrease during the rainy season as a result of climate change and/or human activities. The objective of this work was to document significant streamflow changes caused by land use and land cover （LULC） changes and to quantify the impacts of the observed changes in Laohahe Basin. in the study area, the observed streamflow has been influenced by LULC changes, dams, and irrigation from rivers, industry, livestock and human consumption. Most importantly, the growth of population and gross domestic product （GDP） accompanied by the growth in industrial and agricultural activities, which led to LULC changes with increased residential land and cropland and decreased grassland since 2000s. Statistical methods and Variable Infiltration Capacity （VIC） hydrological model were used to estimate the effects of climate change and LULC changes on streamflow and evaportranspiration lET）. First, the streamflow data of the study area were divided into three sub-periods according to the Pettitt test. The hydrological process was then simulated by VIC model from 1964 to 2009. Furthermore, we compared the simulated results based on land use scenarios in 1989, 1999 and 2007, respectively for exploring the effect of LULC changes on the spatio-temporal distribution of streamflow and ET in the Laohahe Basin. The results suggest that, accompanied with climate change, the LULC changes and human water consumption appeared to be the most likely factors contributing to the sig- nificant reduction in streamflow in the Laohahe Basin by 64% from1999 to 2009.

Overview of recent land cover changes,forest harvest areas,and soil erosion trends in Nordic countries

Mapping spatiotemporal land cover changes offers opportunities to better understand trends and drivers of envi-ronmental change and helps to identify more sustainable land management strategies.This study investigates the spatiotemporal patterns of changes in land covers,forest harvest areas and soil erosion rates in Nordic countries,namely Norway,Sweden,Finland,and Denmark.This region is highly sensitive to environmental changes,as it is experiencing high levels of human pressure and among the highest rates of global warming.An analysis that uses consistent land cover dataset to quantify and compares the recent spatiotemporal changes in land cover in the Nordic countries is missing.The recent products issued by the European Space Agency and the Copernicus Climate Change Service framework provide the possibility to investigate the historical land cover changes from 1992 to 2018 at 300 m resolution.These maps are then integrated with time series of forest harvest areas be-tween 2004 and 2018 to study if and how forest management is represented in land cover products,and with soil erosion data to explore status and recent trends in agricultural land.Land cover changes typically involved from 4%to 9%of the total area in each country.Wetland showed the strongest reduction(11,003 km^(2),−11%of the wetland area in 1992),followed by forest(8,607 km^(2),−1%)and sparse vegetation(5,695 km^(2),−7%),while agriculture(15,884 km^(2),16%)and settlement(3,582 km^(2),84%)showed net increases.Wetland shrinkage dominated land cover changes in Norway(5,870 km^(2),−18%),followed by forest and grassland with a net gain of 3,441 km^(2)(3%)and 3,435 km^(2)(10%),respectively.In Sweden,forest areas decreased 13,008 km^(2)(−4%),mainly due to agriculture expansion(9,211 km^(2),29%).In Finland,agricultural areas increased by 5,982 km^(2)(24%),and wetland decreased by 6,698 km^(2)(−22%).Settlement had the largest net growth in Denmark(717 km^(2),70%),mainly from conversion of agriculture land.Soil erosion rates in Nordic countries are lower than the global average,but they are exacerbating in several locations(especially western Norway).The integration of the land cover datasets with maps of forest harvest areas shows that the majority of the losses in forest cover due to forestry operations are largely undetected,but a non-negligible share of the forest-to-agriculture(up to 19%)or forest-to-grassland(up to 51%)transitions overlap with the harvested sites.Forestry activity in the study region primarily involves small-scale harvest events that are difficult to be detected at the 300 m resolution of the land cover dataset.An accurate representation of forest management remains a challenge for global datasets of land cover time series,and more interdisciplinary international efforts are needed to address this gap.Overall,this analysis provides a detailed overview of recent changes in land cover and forest management in Nordic countries as represented by state-of-the-art global datasets,and offers insights to future studies aiming to improve these data or apply them in land surface models,climate models,landscape ecology,or other applications.

Land Use/Land Cover Changes of Ago-Owu Forest Reserve, Osun State, Nigeria Using Remote Sensing Techniques

Remote sensing (RS) and GIS are important methods for land use assessment and land cover transition. In this study, land use/land cover changes in the Ago-Owu Forest Reserve, Osun State, Nigeria have been assessed. Landsat 5 TM, Landsat 7 ETM+ and Landsat 8 OLI were acquired for 1986, 2002 and 2017 respectively. The three scenes corresponded to path 190 and row 055 of WRS-2 (Worldwide Reference System). The processing of the imagery was preceded by the clipping of the study area from the satellite image. The boundary of the reserve was carefully digitized and used to clip the imagery to produce an image map of the forest reserve. Using the supervised image classification procedure, training sites were used to produce land use/land cover maps. The same classification scheme was used for the 1986, 2002 and 2017 images to facilitate the detection of change. The differences in the area covered by the different polygons between the three sets of images were measured in km2. The results show that during 1986 and 2017, there is a dramatic increase of build-up areas with a change of 55.65 km2 and sparse vegetation (farmland and grassland) with a change of 53.97 km2, while a dramatic decrease of dense vegetation (forest areas) with a change of 109.61 km2. The consequence of these results is that over the years, the population of people living in the forest reserve has increased and many of them are engaged in farming, leading to an increase in farmland. In addition, logging activities continued unabated in the forest reserve, as demonstrated by a sharp increase in the deforested area within the reserve. The maps produced in this study will serve as a planning tool for the Osun State Forestry Department to plan reforestation activities for the forest reserve.

Impacts of Land Cover Changes on Ecosystem Carbon Stocks Over the Transboundary Tumen River Basin in Northeast Asia

Understanding the effects of land cover changes on ecosystem carbon stocks is essential for ecosystem management and envi- ronmental protection, particularly in the transboundary region that has undergone marked changes. This study aimed to examine the impacts of land cover changes on ecosystem carbon stocks in the transboundary Tureen River Basin （TTRB）. We extracted the spatial information from Landsat Thematic Imager （TM） and Operational Land Imager （OLI） images for the years 1990 and 2015 and obtained convincing estimates of terrestrial biomass and soil carbon stocks with the INVEST model. The results showed that forestland, cropland and built-up land increased by 57.5, 429.7 and 128.9 km2, respectively, while grassland, wetland and barren land declined by 24.9, 548.0 and 43.0 km2, respectively in the TTRB from 1990 to 2015. The total carbon stocks encompassing aboveground, belowground, soil and litter layer carbon storage pools have declined from 831.48 Tg C in 1990 to 831.42 Tg C in 2015 due to land cover changes. In detail, the carbon stocks de- creased by 3.13 Tg C and 0.44 Tg C in Democratic People＇s Republic of Korea （North Korea） and Russia, respectively, while increased by 3.51 Tg C in China. Furthermore, economic development, and national policy accounted for most land cover changes in the TTRB. Our results imply that effective wetland and forestland protection policies among China, North Korea, and Russia are much needed for protecting the natural resources, promoting local ecosystem services and regional sustainable development in the transnational area.

Land Cover Changes and Drivers in the Water Source Area of the Middle Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project in China from 2000 to 2015

The Middle Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project(MR-SNWDP)in China,with construction beginning in 2003,diverts water from Danjiangkou Reservoir to North China for residential,agriculture and industrial use.The water source area of the MR-SNWDP is the region that is most sensitive to and most affected by the construction of this water diversion project.In this study,we used Landsat Thematic Mapper(TM)and HJ-1 A/B images from 2000 to 2015 by an object-based approach with a hierarchical classification method for mapping land cover in the water source area.The changes in land cover were illuminated by transfer matrixes,single dynamic degree,slope zones and fractional vegetation cover(FVC).The results indicated that the area of cropland decreased by 31%and was replaced mainly by shrub over the past 15 years,whereas forest and settlements showed continuous increases of 29.2% and 77.7%,respectively.The changes in cropland were obvious in all slope zones and decreased most remarkably(–43.8%)in the slope zone above 25°.Compared to the FVC of forest and shrub,significant improvement was exhibited in the FVC of grassland,with a growth rate of 16.6%.We concluded that local policies,including economic development,water conservation and immigration resulting from the construction of the MR-SNWDP,were the main drivers of land cover changes;notably,they stimulated the substantial and rapid expansion of settlements,doubled the wetlands and drove the transformation from cropland to settlements in immigration areas.

Shrinking greenery： Land use and land cover changes in Kurram Agency, Kohi Safid Mountains of north-western Pakistan

Deforestation and other Land Use and Land Cover(LULC) changes, driven by variety of physical and anthropogenic factors, have altered the mountainous environment. Mountains around the world including northern and north western belts of Pakistan are highly sensitive to deforestation and other LULC changes, which have profound impacts on various sectors of bio-physical and socio-economic systems. Assessment of LULC changes has high significance for protection, conservation and monitoring mountainous environment. The present study is an attempt to assess the landscape changes with particular reference to forest cover depletion in Kurram Agency located in the north western mountain belt of Pakistan. For detailed comparative analysis the study area has been divided into three sections, which coincide with the present administrative divisions of the Agency, i.e., Upper,Lower and Central Kurram. Temporal span of this study covers four decades. In this study, land use map of 1970 and land sat satellite imageries of 1987, 2000 and 2014 were used as spatial data sets. The images were processed and classified into six LULC classes through geospatial packages and change detection maps were prepared for each division and time period.Findings of the study reveal two trends in the four major LULC categories. Forest and rangeland have shrunk, on average, by 15% and 7.5% respectively while, bare soil and rocks outcrops have expanded by 89% and agriculture land by 7.2% in Kurram agency.The water bodies and snow cover have minor fluctuation in its land area. Major causes of shrinking greenery is attributed to high influx of Afghan refugees and high energy demand of growing population. However, with outflow of the refugees from Kurram agency the general trend in forest cover has reverted and deforestation rate has slowed down.

Evaluating the impacts of land use and land cover changes on surface air temperature using the WRF-mosaic approach

Satellite-derived land surface data in 1980 and 2010 were used to represent land use and land cover（LULC） changes caused by the rapid economic development and human activities that have occurred over the past few decades in East Asia and China. The effects of LULC changes on the radiation budget and 2-m surface air temperature（SAT） were explored for the period using the Weather Research and Forecasting（WRF） model. The mosaic approach, which considers the N-most abundant land use types within a model grid cell（here, N = 3） and precisely describes the subgridscale LULC changes, was adopted in the integrations. The impacts of LULC changes based on two 36-year integrations showed that SAT generally decreased, with the sole exception being over eastern China, resulting in decreased SAT in China（-0.062 °C） and East Asian land areas（EAL,-0.061 °C）. The LULC changes induced changes in albedo, which influenced the radiation budget. The radiative forcings at the top of the atmosphere were-0.56 W m-2 across the whole of China, and-0.50 W m-2 over EAL. Meanwhile, the altered roughness length mainly influenced near-surface wind speeds, large-scale and upward moisture fluxes, latent heat fluxes, and cloud fractions at different altitudes. Though the impacts caused by the LULC changes were generally smaller at regional scales, the values at local scales were much stronger.

Efects of Cropland Cover Changes on Regional Climate over Western China Based on Simulations with RegCM3

The impacts of land cover changes on regional climate with RegCM3. Sensitivity experiments were conducted by in Shaan-Gan-Ning （SGN） in western China were simulated replacing crop grids with different new land cover types in the key area of SGN, where the returning cropland to tree/grass project has been carried out since 1999. The modified new land cover types include desert, forest, shrub and grass. They represent degraded, improved, and maintained vegetation cover with natural canopy in the key area. Results from three individual case studies show that the land cover change causes changes in temperature and terrestrial water variables especially within the key area, while changes in precipitation are found for a larger area. The strongest changes appear where the cropland is degraded to bare soil, leading to increasing temperature and decreases in rainfall, evaporation and soil water. Opposite changes occur when cropland changed into forests, especially with strong increases in soil water. When cropland changed to grass and shrub land, the climatic changes are closer to those with forest cover. This shows the importance of improving and maintaining the vegetation in SGN for the ecosystem and regional climate.

Land cover changes in the rural-urban interaction of Xi’an region using Landsat TM/ETM data

Landsat ETM/TM data and an artificial neural network （ANN） were applied to analyse the expansion of the city of Xi＇an and land use/cover change of its surrounding area between 2000 and 2003. Supervised classification and normalized difference barren index （NDBI） were used respectively to retrieve its urban boundary. Results showed that the urban area increased by an annual rate of 12.3%, with area expansion from 253.37 km^2 in 2000 to 358.60 km^2 in 2003. Large areas of farmland in the north and southwest were converted into urban construction land. The land use/cover changes of Xi＇an were mainly caused by fast development of urban economy, population immigration from countryside, great development of infrastructure such as transportation, and huge demands for urban market. In addition, affected by the government policy of “returning farmland to woodland”, some farmland was converted into economic woodland, such as Chinese goosebeerv garden, vineyard etc.

Impacts of Land Cover Changes on Runoff and Sediment in the Cedar Creek Watershed,St.Joseph River,Indiana,United States

The relation between runoff and sediment and land cover is investigated in the Cedar Creek Watershed （CCW）, located in Northeastern Indiana, United States. The major land cover types in this watershed are cultivated land, woodland and pasture /Conservation Reserve Program （CRP）, which account for approximate 90 % of the total area in the region. Moreover, land use was changed tremendously from aooo to 9004, even without regarding the effect of the crop rotation system （corn ＆ soybean）. At least 49 % of land cover types were changed into other types in this period. The land cover types, ranking by changing area from high to low series, are rye, soybean, corn, woodland and pasture/CRP. The CCW is divided into 21 subwatersheds, and soil and water loss in each sub-watershed is computed by using Soil and Water Assessment Tool （SWAT）. The results indicate that the variations in runoff and sediment have positive relation to the area of crops （especially corn and soybean）; sediment is more sensitive to land cover changes than runoff; more heavy rainfall does not always mean more runoff because the combination of different land cover types always modify runoff coefficient; and rye, soybean and corn are the key land cover types, which affected the variation in runoff and sediment in the CCW.

Integration of remotely sensed indices for land cover changes caused by the 2009 Victorian bushfires using Landsat TM imagery

In order to minimise the bushfires negative impacts on society, an efficient andreliable bushfire detection system was proposed to assess the devastated effects of the2009 Victorian bushfires.It is possible to utilise the repetitive capability of satellite remotesensing imagery to identify the location of change to the Earth's surface and integrate thedifferent remotely sensed indices.The results confirm that the procedure can offer essentialspatial information for bushfire assessment.

Identifying the Rates and Drivers of Spatiotemporal Patterns of Land Use and Land Cover Changes in the Hurungwe District, Zimbabwe: A GIS and Remote Sensing Approach

Identifying spatiotemporal patterns of land use and land cover changes (LULCC) and their impacts on the natural environment is essential in policy decisions for effective, sustainable natural resource management solutions. This study employed supervised image classification in Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud-based platform to assess the land cover land use changes for the past 30 years (1989-2020), as well as predict the land cover states and the risk of future forest loss in the next ten years, using TerrSet 20 software in Hurungwe district, Zimbabwe. The study findings revealed a net forest area and shrub loss of 32% and 10%, while croplands, water bodies, and bare lands have increased by about 171%, 7%, and 119% between 1989 and 2020, respectively. Croplands are the major contributor to the net change in forests, particularly tobacco farming. The predictive model estimated that by 2030 the district would lose approximately 7% of the current forest cover area, most likely converted into croplands, shrubs, and settlements. The results reinforce the importance of bridging the gap between socioeconomic activities and institutional policies to ensure proper natural resource management. Integrating institutional policy and socioeconomic goals is indispensable to ensure sustainable development.

Spatiotemporal characteristics and driving mechanisms of land use/land cover(LULC)changes in the Jinghe River Basin,China

Understanding the trajectories and driving mechanisms behind land use/land cover(LULC)changes is essential for effective watershed planning and management.This study quantified the net change,exchange,total change,and transfer rate of LULC in the Jinghe River Basin(JRB),China using LULC data from 2000 to 2020.Through trajectory analysis,knowledge maps,chord diagrams,and standard deviation ellipse method,we examined the spatiotemporal characteristics of LULC changes.We further established an index system encompassing natural factors(digital elevation model(DEM),slope,aspect,and curvature),socio-economic factors(gross domestic product(GDP)and population),and accessibility factors(distance from railways,distance from highways,distance from water,and distance from residents)to investigate the driving mechanisms of LULC changes using factor detector and interaction detector in the geographical detector(Geodetector).The key findings indicate that from 2000 to 2020,the JRB experienced significant LULC changes,particularly for farmland,forest,and grassland.During the study period,LULC change trajectories were categorized into stable,early-stage,late-stage,repeated,and continuous change types.Besides the stable change type,the late-stage change type predominated the LULC change trajectories,comprising 83.31% of the total change area.The period 2010-2020 witnessed more active LULC changes compared to the period 2000-2010.The LULC changes exhibited a discrete spatial expansion trend during 2000-2020,predominantly extending from southeast to northwest of the JRB.Influential driving factors on LULC changes included slope,GDP,and distance from highways.The interaction detection results imply either bilinear or nonlinear enhancement for any two driving factors impacting the LULC changes from 2000 to 2020.This comprehensive understanding of the spatiotemporal characteristics and driving mechanisms of LULC changes offers valuable insights for the planning and sustainable management of LULC in the JRB.

Land Use and Land Cover Dynamics in the Eseka Alluvial Gold Mining District, Centre Region, Cameroon

Local populations in Cameroon thrive on forest resources and the flow of ecosystem services they provide are pivotal in sustaining national economy, improving people’s lives, safeguarding biodiversity, and mitigating the impacts of environmental changes. The exploitation of these resources invariably leads to deforestation and forest degradation. This study was designed to evaluate land use land cover change (LULCC) in the Eseka alluvial gold mining district with the aid of Landsat images. In the investigation of forest cover change, four Landsat satellite images for (1990, 2002, 2015 and 2022) were used. Ground-truthing also helped to identify the activities carried out by the local population and to determine agents, drivers and pressures of land use and land cover change. Four main land cover classes namely: forest, agricultural land, settlement/mining camps and water bodies were selected. Between 1990 and 2022, the proportion of forest decreased from 98% to 34% while those of agricultural land and settlement/mining camps increased from 2% to 60% and 0.54% to 6% respectively. Analysis showed ongoing deforestation with forest cover loss of ~98,263 ha in 32 years giving a cover change percentage of 63.94%. Kappa coefficient for the study period ranged from 0.92 to 0.99. Forest cover loss could be attributed to farming activities, wood extraction and alluvial gold mining activities. Economic motives notably the need to increase household income from a frequent demand for farm and wood products in neighbouring towns and the quest for gold were the main drivers of these activities. Hence, this study assesses the impact of human activities from the mining sector on the forest ecosystem in a bid to inform mitigation policies.

Spatiotemporal landscape pattern changes and their effects on land surface temperature in greenbelt with semi-arid climate:A case study of the Erbil City,Iraq

Urban expansion of cities has caused changes in land use and land cover(LULC)in addition to transformations in the spatial characteristics of landscape structure.These alterations have generated heat islands and rise of land surface temperature(LST),which consequently have caused a variety of environmental issues and threated the sustainable development of urban areas.Greenbelts are employed as an urban planning containment policy to regulate urban expansion,safeguard natural open spaces,and serve adaptation and mitigation functions.And they are regarded as a powerful measure for enhancing urban environmental sustainability.Despite the fact that,the relation between landscape structure change and variation of LST has been examined thoroughly in many studies,but there is a limitation concerning this relation in semi-arid climate and in greenbelts as well,with the lacking of comprehensive research combing both aspects.Accordingly,this study investigated the spatiotemporal changes of landscape pattern of LULC and their relationship with variation of LST within an inner greenbelt in the semi-arid Erbil City of northern Iraq.The study utilized remote sensing data to retrieve LST,classified LULC,and calculated landscape metrics for analyzing spatial changes during the study period.The results indicated that both composition and configuration of LULC had an impact on the variation of LST in the study area.The Pearson's correlation showed the significant effect of Vegetation 1 type(VH),cultivated land(CU),and bare soil(BS)on LST,as increase of LST was related to the decrease of VH and the increases of CU and BS,while,neither Vegetation 2 type(VL)nor built-up(BU)had any effects.Additionally,the spatial distribution of LULC also exhibited significant effects on LST,as LST was strongly correlated with landscape indices for VH,CU,and BS.However,for BU,only aggregation index metric affected LST,while none of VL metrics had a relation.The study provides insights for landscape planners and policymakers to not only develop more green spaces in greenbelt but also optimize the spatial landscape patterns to reduce the influence of LST on the urban environment,and further promote sustainable development and enhance well-being in the cities with semi-arid climate.

Comprehending drivers of land use land cover change from 1999 to 2021 in the Pithoragarh District,Kumaon Himalaya,Uttarakhand,India

The Himalayan region has been experiencing stark impacts of climate change,demographic and livelihood pattern changes.The analysis of land use and land cover(LULC)change provides insights into the shifts in spatial and temporal patterns of landscape.These changes are the combined effects of anthropogenic and natural/climatic factors.The present study attempts to monitor and comprehend the main drivers behind LULC changes(1999-2021)in the Himalayan region of Pithoragarh district,Uttarakhand.Pithoragarh district is a border district,remotely located in the north-east region of Uttarakhand,India.The study draws upon primary and secondary data sources.A total of 400 household surveys and five group discussions from 38 villages were conducted randomly to understand the climate perception of the local community and the drivers of change.Satellite imagery,CRU(Climatic Research Unit)climate data and climate perception data from the field have been used to comprehensively comprehend,analyze,and discuss the trends and reasons for LULC change.GIS and remote sensing techniques were used to construct LULC maps.This multifaceted approach ensures comprehensive and corroborated information.Five classes were identified and formed viz-cultivation,barren,settlement,snow,and vegetation.Results show that vegetation and builtup have increased whereas cultivation,barren land,and snow cover have decreased.The study further aims to elucidate the causes behind LULC changes in the spatially heterogeneous region,distinguishing between those attributed to human activities,climate shifts,and the interconnected impacts of both.The study provides a comprehensive picture of the study area and delivers a targeted understanding of local drivers and their potential remedies by offering a foundation for formulating sustainable adaptation policies in the region.

Shallow landslide susceptibility assessment under future climate and land cover changes: A case study from southwest China

There is no doubt that land cover and climate changes have consequences on landslide activity,but it is still an open issue to assess and quantify their impacts.Wanzhou County in southwest China was selected as the test area to study rainfall-induced shallow landslide susceptibility under the future changes of land use and land cover(LULC)and climate.We used a high-resolution meteorological precipitation dataset and frequency distribution model to analyse the present extreme and antecedent rainfall conditions related to landslide activity.The future climate change factors were obtained from a 4-member multimodel ensemble that was derived from statistically downscaled regional climate simulations.The future LULC maps were simulated by the land change modeller(LCM)integrated into IDRISI Selva software.A total of six scenarios were defined by considering the rainfall(antecedent conditions and extreme events)and LULC changes towards two time periods(mid and late XXI century).A physically-based model was used to assess landslide susceptibility under these different scenarios.The results showed that the magnitude of both antecedent effective recharge and event rainfall in the region will evidently increase in the future.Under the scenario with a return period of 100 years,the antecedent rainfall in summer will increase by up to 63%whereas the event rainfall will increase by up to 54%for the late 21st century.The most considerable changes of LULC will be the increase of forest cover and the decrease of farming land.The magnitude of this change can reach+22.1%(forest)and–9.2%(farmland)from 2010 until 2100,respectively.We found that the negative impact of climate change on landslide susceptibility is greater than the stabilizing effect of LULC change,leading to an over decrease in stability over the study area.This is one of the first studies across Asia to assess and quantify changes of regional landslide susceptibility under scenarios driven by LULC and climate change.Our results aim to guide land use planning and climate change mitigation considerations to reduce landslide risk.

Land use and cover change and influencing factor analysis in the Shiyang River Basin,China

Land use and cover change(LUCC)is the most direct manifestation of the interaction between anthropological activities and the natural environment on Earth's surface,with significant impacts on the environment and social economy.Rapid economic development and climate change have resulted in significant changes in land use and cover.The Shiyang River Basin,located in the eastern part of the Hexi Corridor in China,has undergone significant climate change and LUCC over the past few decades.In this study,we used the random forest classification to obtain the land use and cover datasets of the Shiyang River Basin in 1991,1995,2000,2005,2010,2015,and 2020 based on Landsat images.We validated the land use and cover data in 2015 from the random forest classification results(this study),the high-resolution dataset of annual global land cover from 2000 to 2015(AGLC-2000-2015),the global 30 m land cover classification with a fine classification system(GLC_FCS30),and the first Landsat-derived annual China Land Cover Dataset(CLCD)against ground-truth classification results to evaluate the accuracy of the classification results in this study.Furthermore,we explored and compared the spatiotemporal patterns of LUCC in the upper,middle,and lower reaches of the Shiyang River Basin over the past 30 years,and employed the random forest importance ranking method to analyze the influencing factors of LUCC based on natural(evapotranspiration,precipitation,temperature,and surface soil moisture)and anthropogenic(nighttime light,gross domestic product(GDP),and population)factors.The results indicated that the random forest classification results for land use and cover in the Shiyang River Basin in 2015 outperformed the AGLC-2000-2015,GLC_FCS30,and CLCD datasets in both overall and partial validations.Moreover,the classification results in this study exhibited a high level of agreement with the ground truth features.From 1991 to 2020,the area of bare land exhibited a decreasing trend,with changes primarily occurring in the middle and lower reaches of the basin.The area of grassland initially decreased and then increased,with changes occurring mainly in the upper and middle reaches of the basin.In contrast,the area of cropland initially increased and then decreased,with changes occurring in the middle and lower reaches.The LUCC was influenced by both natural and anthropogenic factors.Climatic factors and population contributed significantly to LUCC,and the importance values of evapotranspiration,precipitation,temperature,and population were 22.12%,32.41%,21.89%,and 19.65%,respectively.Moreover,policy interventions also played an important role.Land use and cover in the Shiyang River Basin exhibited fluctuating changes over the past 30 years,with the ecological environment improving in the last 10 years.This suggests that governance efforts in the study area have had some effects,and the government can continue to move in this direction in the future.The findings can provide crucial insights for related research and regional sustainable development in the Shiyang River Basin and other similar arid and semi-arid areas.

Effect of ground cover changes on solar radiation absorption in Three Northeastern Provinces of China

Background,aim,and scope Solar radiation is the main source of energy for terrestrial ecosystems.Small changes in the absorption of solar radiation at the ground surface can have a significant impact on the climatic environment.Natural and anthropogenic changes in ground cover are important factors affecting the absorption of solar radiation at the ground surface.This phenomenon is particularly pronounced in the mid and high latitudes.In order to quantify the inf luence of surface cover change on the absorption of solar radiation at the surface and to provide a scientific basis for changes in the climatic environment,this paper analyzed ground cover change,ground absorbed solar radiation change and the effect of ground cover change on ground absorbed solar radiation in the Three Northeastern Provinces of China from 2001 to 2018.Materials and methods In this study,the Three Northeastern Provinces of China were used as the study area.Firstly,satellite remote sensing data were used to obtain land cover data and albedo data for Aug.1st of each year in 2001,2005,2010,2015 and 2018.The albedo data were further used to calculate the absorbed solar radiation data at the ground surface.Next,the land cover data were used to count the area changes and shifts of different land classes over the five-year period.The land cover data were overlaid with the surface absorbed solar radiation data to obtain the mean and standard deviation of radiation absorption for different ground classes.The surface absorbed solar radiation data were subtracted to obtain the changes in surface absorbed solar radiation for 2001-2005,2005-2010,2010-2015 and 2015-2018.Ultimately,we used a combination of shifted changes in ground classes and changes in surface absorbed solar radiation data,with unchanged ground classes as a baseline and data such as slope orientation as an aid.We analyzed the effect of ground cover change on surface absorbed solar radiation at regional and pixel point scales.Results(1)The area of woodland and waters in the Three Northeastern Provinces of China increased and then decreased from 2001 to 2018,with an overall increase of 3.96%and 10.51%respectively.Cropland decreased and then increased,with a total decrease of 1.22%.Grassland continued to decrease,with an overall decrease of 19.36%.Building sites increased all the time,with a total increase of 11.08%.The main types of ground cover shifted were woodland,cropland and grassland.The main factors for the change in ground cover were China’s woodland protection policy and the saturation of the total woodland stock.(2)The five ground types absorb solar radiation in the order of waters>building sites>woodland>grassland>cropland.The surface absorption of solar radiation in the Songnen Plain,the Sanjiang Plain and the Songhua River Basin flowing through the Songnen Plain and the Sanjiang Plain varies significantly,by more than 25 W·m^(-2).(3)Changes in the ground cover type affected the absorption of solar radiation energy by the ground surface.There was a clear trend of interconversion between waters and cropland/grassland,cropland and woodland/grassland.In particular,the conversion of waters to both cropland and grassland radiation absorption values decreased significantly,while the opposite increased.The absolute difference between waters and cropland was a maximum of-156.66 W·m^(-2)in 2010-2015,and between waters and grassland was a maximum of 102.36 W·m^(-2)in 2005-2010.The radiative absorption values of woodland and grassland reclamation declined and conversely increased.The absolute difference between woodland and cropland was a maximum of-13.94 W·m^(-2)in 2010-2015 when woodland converted to cropland,and between grassland and cropland was a maximum of 22.36 W·m^(-2)in 2001-2005 when cropland converted to grassland,respectively.Discussion Ground cover changes in the Three Northeastern Provinces of China from 2001-2018 were inextricably linked to natural factors and the inf luence of Chinese national policies.The main inf luencing factors were China’s woodland protection policy,restoration of woodland fire sites,saturation of total woodland,optimization of cropland patterns,sanding of grassland,expansion of water conservancy projects,and urbanization expansion.There were differences in the radiation absorption characteristics of different ground cover types.This was due to the nature of the ground type itself and the regional environment.When ground cover types changed,their ability to absorb solar radiation also changed.The degree of change could be inf luenced by different ground types and different environmental factors.Different spatial scales can also produce variability.We need to consider the effects of ground cover change on the absorption of solar radiation at the surface in an integrated and comprehensive way.Conclusions The Three Northeastern Provinces of China had frequent changes in ground cover from 2001-2018,with the area of grassland decreased by almost 20%.These changes were due to natural environmental change and policies issued by China since the 21st century.The extent to which solar radiation was absorbed by different ground cover types was different,with grassland being the strongest and cropland the least.In the past few years,the Songnen Plain and Sanjiang Plain regions were the most significant changes in the absorption of solar radiation by the ground cover.The change in ground cover type led to a change in solar radiation absorption at the ground surface,with the conversion of waters to cropland or grassland and the conversion of cropland to woodland or grassland showing the greatest change in radiation absorption values,and vice versa.Of these,the absolute difference in the conversion of waters to cropland amounts to-156.66 W·m^(-2)in 2010-2015.The variation in the absorption of solar radiation at the ground surface was related to the characteristics of the ground class itself,but was also limited by the regional environment.Recommendations and perspectives This study showed that surface cover change can affect the absorption of solar radiation at the surface to varying degrees.The unchanged land classes were used as a comparative analysis in this paper,and it was clear from the paper that some of the unchanged land classes showed significant changes in radiation absorption that should be of interest in future studies.

Land Use Land Cover Analysis for Godavari Basin in Maharashtra Using Geographical Information System and Remote Sensing

The dynamic transformation of land use and land cover has emerged as a crucial aspect in the effective management of natural resources and the continual monitoring of environmental shifts. This study focused on the land use and land cover (LULC) changes within the catchment area of the Godavari River, assessing the repercussions of land and water resource exploitation. Utilizing LANDSAT satellite images from 2009, 2014, and 2019, this research employed supervised classification through the Quantum Geographic Information System (QGIS) software’s SCP plugin. Maximum likelihood classification algorithm was used for the assessment of supervised land use classification. Seven distinct LULC classes—forest, irrigated cropland, agricultural land (fallow), barren land, shrub land, water, and urban land—are delineated for classification purposes. The study revealed substantial changes in the Godavari basin’s land use patterns over the ten-year period from 2009 to 2019. Spatial and temporal dynamics of land use/cover changes (2009-2019) were quantified using three Satellite/Landsat images, a supervised classification algorithm and the post classification change detection technique in GIS. The total study area of the Godavari basin in Maharashtra encompasses 5138175.48 hectares. Notably, the built-up area increased from 0.14% in 2009 to 1.94% in 2019. The proportion of irrigated cropland, which was 62.32% in 2009, declined to 41.52% in 2019. Shrub land witnessed a noteworthy increase from 0.05% to 2.05% over the last decade. The key findings underscored significant declines in barren land, agricultural land, and irrigated cropland, juxtaposed with an expansion in forest land, shrub land, and urban land. The classification methodology achieved an overall accuracy of 80%, with a Kappa Statistic of 71.9% for the satellite images. The overall classification accuracy along with the Kappa value for 2009, 2014 and 2019 supervised land use land cover classification was good enough to detect the changing scenarios of Godavari River basin under study. These findings provide valuable insights for discerning land utilization across various categories, facilitating the adoption of appropriate strategies for sustainable land use in the region.