Water and Energy Consumption by Agriculture in the Minqin Oasis Region

Water used in agriculture consumes much energy, mainly due to pumping water for irrigation, but the water-energy nexus is always neglected in arid and semi-arid areas. Based on hydrological observation data, irrigation data and socio- economic data over the past 50 yr, this study has derived a detailed estimate of greenhouse gas （GHG） emissions from agricultural water use in the Minqin Oasis. Results show that the decreasing water supply and increasing demand for agriculture has caused severe water deficits over the past 50 yr in this region. The groundwater energy use rate rose by 76% between 1961 and 2009 because of the serious decline in groundwater levels. An increase in pump lift by an average 1 m would cause GHG emission rates to rise by around 2%. Over the past 10 yr, the GHG emissions from groundwater accounted for 65-88% of the total emissions from agricultural water. GHG emissions for diverted water varied from 0.047 to 0.074 Mt CO2e as the water input increased. Long distance conveyance and high pump lifts need more electricity input than groundwater abstraction does. Government policies have had a favorable effect on total emissions by reducing water abstraction. But groundwater depletion, exacerbated by a growing population and an expansion in arable land, remains the principal energy-water nexus challenge in the region. In response to the increasing water-energy crisis, energy-saving irrigation technology, matching to cost efficiencies, and better coordination between different infrastructural agencies could be feasible ways of rendering the water and energy sectors more sustainable over the long term.

Environmental characteristics of sandstorm of Minqin Oasis in China for recent 50 years

The purpose of this present study is to investigate the frequency and variation of sandstorm in Minqin Oasis. Using daily observational data of sandstorm and other meteorologic data from 1954 to 2000, we have illuminated the relationship between sandstorm, meteorological parameters and human activities. The results of the analysis show that the highest frequency of sandstorms occurrence and their duration mainly focus on March, April and May, especially in April. Most of sandstorms occur from midday to nightfall, but relative few appear from midnight to forenoon, which apparently correlates to the daily variations of atmospheric thermal stability within atmospheric boundary layer. Monthly mean and annual mean duration of sandstorms coincide well with the frequencies of sandstorm occurrence.

Ecological Environment Conservation and Restoration and Sustainable Development of Minqin Oasis

Minqin oasis in the lower reaches of the Shiyang River is a main natural barrier for the Wuwei Basin. Due to the combined influence of human activities and natural factors in the past half a century, water quality in the lower reaches of the Shiyang River decreased and ecological environment deteriorated, which influenced sustainable development of this area and surrounding area seriously. This paper analyzed current situation and reasons of the deteriorated ecological environment in the lower reaches of the Shiyang River, and proposed that water environment regulation was the primary task in the eco-environment control of Minqin area, specifically,(a) By using existing policies, accelerating the construction of water-saving agriculture in the middle reaches of the Shiyang River, water quantity in the lower reaches would be guanranted, water shortage for agricultural production and ecological use in Minqin oasis would be relieved;(b) Unreasonable human activities such as overexploitation of underground water should be controlled strictly;(c) Water conservancy project should be developed vigorously to ensure rate of flow. It was expected that the above schemes would contribute to the benign circulation of ecological environment in Minqin oasis.

Desertification evolution prediction for lake area of Minqin oasis based on integration of GIS and cellular automata

The Minqin oasis is surrounded on three sides by the Tengger Desert and the Badanjilin Desert, and it prevents these two deserts from converging. However, in recent years it has become the worst ecological environment in the Lake area due to deficient water resources, continual declines in the groundwater level and quality （increasing mineralization and salination）, which are causing in- creasing desertification. In this study, Landsat Thematic Mapper （TM） remote images from 1992, 1998, 2002, and 2006 of the Lake area of the Minqin oasis are interpreted to analyze the desertification evolution. A combination of an ArcObjects module and a cellular automata model is used to build a model simulating the desertification dynamics; the forecasting accuracy of this model is shown to reach up to 90%. The desertification situation in 2012 is forecasted by this model, and the results showed that, from 2006 to 2012, the green land area will be reduced by 999.92 hm2 （l.59 percent of the total oasis area）, the desertification land area will be reduced by 3,000.68 hrn2 （4.78 percent of the total oasis area）, and sand land area will increase by 4,000.6 hm2 （6.37 per- cent of the total oasis area）. The sand land is predicted to become more widespread, and more than 18% sand land will be distrib- uted in the center of green land in the Lake area. In other words, more and more abandoned green land （mined farm land） will be transformed into sand land, and this will intensify the desertification.

Study on Vegetation Characteristics & Soil Properties of Secondary Grassland in Farmland Areas Abandoned for Different Years in Minqin Oasis

[Objectives]This study was conducted to investigate the vegetation community characteristics and soil properties of secondary grassland in abandoned farmland areas of different years in Minqin Oasis. [Methods] By the method of space-for-time substitution, the changes of vegetation community characteristics(species composition, structural characteristics and important values) and soil microbial and enzyme activity were determined, and the correlation between various soil factors was analyzed. [Results](1) There were 39 species belonging to 32 genera of 15 families in the research area, including 8 shrub plants, 15 perennial herbs and 16 annual herbs.(2) Soil microbial biomass carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus contents were higher in the upper layer than in the lower layer, and the phenomenon of “surface aggregation” was obvious. The differences were different with the change of abandoned years.(3) Soil catalase content was the highest among different plots, and soil phosphatase, sucrase and urease all showed a trend of fluctuating decline with the increase in abandoned years. Soil enzyme changes were different in different soil layers. [Conclusions] This study can provide a theoretical basis for the restoration, reconstruction and rational protection and utilization of secondary grassland in abandoned farmland.

Who is in the Lower Reaches,Who Suffers Disasters?——Take Minqin County,a Disappearing Oasis as a Case

Minqin Oasis is located in the lower reaches of the Shiyanghe River Basin, northeast of the Heixi Corridor, at the middle of the Silk Road. Because of the its existence, Badain Jaran Desert and Tengger Desert cannot converge and develop in the south. It has always been an important green barrier to guarantee the eco-security of Hexi Corridor and the Silk Road for thousands of years. But in recent decades, Minqin Oasis is becoming smaller and the desert is becoming larger. Many people, especially the governmental officials in the lower reaches think that the upper and middle reaches have robbed the lower reaches of water resources, and caused insufficient water usage and the deteriorated eco-environment, in the lower reaches, However, the governmental officials in the upper and middle reaches claim that the whole river basin should take the upper and middle reaches as the key regions to develop economy. To address the above argument, we analyze the reasons why Minqin Oasis is disappearing, and find that there are two main factors. One is the quick development of population and economy in the upper and middle reaches; the other is the rapid development of population and economy in the lower reaches. The two factors both have great effect on the water utilization for eco-environment in the lower reaches. So Minqin Oasis is disappearing not only because of the upper and middle reaches but also because of the growth of population and economy itself. The lower reaches should not completely blame the upper and middle reaches. The upper and middle reaches should also pay more attention to the eco-environment in the lower reaches. The whole river basin should develop a harmonious and sustainable relationship among the upper, middle and lower reaches.

Quantitative Analysis of Natural and Human Factors of Oasis Change in the Tail of Shiyang River over the Past 60 Years

The human and natural factors complicit in the driving forces of oasis change have always received considerable interest from the international research community. In this study, we used principal component analysis of natural and socio-economic statistical factors to quantitatively analyze the causal relationships and their contributions to the observed periodic expansion or shrinkage of the Minqin Oasis over almost 60 years. Our results show that human factors were the dominant factors governing expansion or shrinkage, with average contributions of 69.38% and 76.16%, respectively. Moreover, policy decisions have been the pivotal human factors. Under the influence of various policies, we have found that water resource utilization, land reclamation, population explosion, ecological protection and economic development have each played leading roles in different periods. This study provides a scientific basis for modelling the dynamics of an oasis for sustainable management.

Quantitative retrieval of soil salt content based on measured spectral data

Choosing the Minqin Oasis, located downstream of the Shiyang River in Northwest China, as the study area, we used field-measured hyperspectral data and laboratory-measured soil salt content data to analyze the characteristics of saline soil spectral reflectance and its transformation in the area, and elucidated the relations between the soil spectral re-flectance, reflectance transformation, and soil salt content. In addition, we screened sensitive wavebands. Then, a multiple linear regression model was established to predict the soil salt content based on the measured spectral data, and the accuracy of the model was verified using field-measured salinity data. The results showed that the overall shapes of the spectral curves of soils with different degrees of salinity were consistent, and the reflectance in visible and near-infrared bands for salinized soil was higher than that for non-salinized soil. After differential transformation, the correlation coefficient between the spectral reflectance and soil salt content was obviously improved. The first-order differential transformation model based on the logarithm of the reciprocal of saline soil spectral reflectance produced the highest accuracy and stability in the bands at 462 and 636 nm; the determination coefficient was 0.603, and the root mean square error was 5.407. Thus, the proposed model provides a good reference for the quantitative extraction and monitoring of regional soil salinization.