Spatio-temporal Distribution of Drought in the Belt and Road Area During 1998–2015 Based on TRMM Precipitation Data

Drought is a worldwide natural disaster that has long affected agricultural production as well as social and economic activities. Frequent droughts have been observed in the Belt and Road area, in which much of the agricultural land is concentrated in fragile ecological environment. Based on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Satellite（TRMM） 3 B43 precipitation data, we used the Precipitation Abnormity Percentage drought model to study the monthly spatio-temporal distribution of drought in south region of N50° of the Belt and Road area. It was observed that drought during winter was mainly distributed in Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia, while it was mainly distributed in Central Asia and West Asia during summer. The occurrence of historical droughts indicates an obvious seasonal cycle. The regional variations in drought were analyzed using the Breaks for Additive Season and Trend tool（BFAST） in six sub-regions according to the spatial distribution of six economic corridors in the Belt and Road area. The average drought conditions over the 18 years show a slight decreasing trend in Northeast Asia, West Asia, North Africa, South Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, and a slight increasing trend in Central Asia. However, it was a fluctuating pattern of first increasing and then decreasing in Southeast Asia. The results indicate that the total drought area in the Belt and Road region showed a general decreasing trend at a rate of 40,260 km^2 per year from 1998 to 2015.

Comparative Analysis of Different Forest Ecosystems Response to Global Climate Change and Economic Activity

This article examines the impact of climate change on different ecosystems （boreal, tropical） APR on the territory of Russia, Mongolia, China, received in the course of research in key areas of investigated territory; provides a comparative analysis of the reaction of these ecosystems to global climate change. It is concluded, that there is some reaction of the forest ecosystem to climate change. This reaction is differently. It is noted the importance of socio-economic problems which have significant impact on ecosystems, along with climate change. Carried out researches allow to conclude, that it is necessary to investigate additionally how imposed climate-driven and direct human impacts to changes in forest and forest steppe ecosystems.

Degradation of the Vegetation Cover in Central Mongolia: A Case Study

Two model polygons in the Central Mongolia are considered for investigation of vegetation dynamics. They are located in rainless climatic zones -- arid and semiarid. For the emphasized polygons plots of the NDVI temporal variation and NDVI maps of its multi-temporal values on the base of Landsat TM imagery are constructed. The full-scale landscape indication of the selected NDVI areas with different values with the step through 0.1 is conducted. This indication is supported by the analysis of vegetation to environmental groups for drought resistance. Almost the entire territory of the emphasized polygons vegetation digression during this period was traced. The analysis of the time variation of NDVI shows a decrease of its values. This indicates a trend xerophytization already sparse vegetation of Gobi. In the semiarid climatic zone a digression vegetation trend is directly related to heavy load on the pastures.