Spatio-temporal Evolution of Urban Expansion Based on a Novel Adjusted Index and GEE: A Case Study of Central Plains Urban Agglomeration, China

It is crucial to investigate the urban agglomerations spatio-temporal evolution patterns and driving factors for analyzing the urban spatial structure-functional division and promoting the coordinated development of urban agglomerations.In this study,a novel vegetation-building-nighttime light-adjusted index(VBNAI)was established for rapid and effective mapping of urban construction land(UCL)in Central Plains Urban Agglomeration(CPUA),China during 2000–2020 based on Google Earth Engine(GEE)platform.Compared with traditional indices,VBNAI can significantly decrease the blooming effect,Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI)saturation,and soil background of nighttime light data.In addition,the urban expansion indices and standard deviation ellipse model were synthetically adopted to analyze the spatio-temporal evolution pattern of urban expansion.The gravity model and the geographically weighted regression model were employed to determine the spatial interaction forces and drivers of urban expansion,respectively.The results showed that the VBNAI index has obvious advantages in efficiency and accuracy to extract UCL with the overall accuracy of more than 91%.The UCL of CPUA had increased by 4489.84 km2 during 2000–2020 with the gravity center moving towards southeast continuously.From 2000 to 2010,the urban expansion was in a‘center-hinterland’pattern which had benefit from the favorable effect of the traffic shaft belt.During 2010–2020,the urban network structure had basically established.Urban expansion had been influenced by a variety of socio-economic and demographic factors,and the impact degree varied from region to region.This study could provide scientific references for facilitating the intensive utilization of urban resources and optimizing the spatial development pattern of urban agglomeration.

Spatio-temporal Variations of Temperature and Precipitation During 1951–2019 in Arid and Semiarid Region, China

Understanding the spatio-temporal variations of temperature and precipitation in the arid and semiarid region of China(ASRC)is of great significance for promoting regional eco-environmental protection and policy-making.In this study,the annual and seasonal spatio-temporal patterns of change in average temperature and precipitation and their influencing factors in the ASRC were analyzed using the Mann-Kendall test,linear tendency estimation,accumulative anomaly and the Pearson’s correlation coefficient.The results showed that both annual average temperature and average annual precipitation increased in the ASRC during 1951–2019.The temperature rose by about 1.93℃and precipitation increased by about 24 mm.The seasonal average temperature presented a significant increase trend,and the seasonal precipitation was conspicuous ascension in spring and winter.The spatio-temporal patterns of change in temperature and precipitation differed,with the southwest area showing the most obvious variation in each season.Abrupt changes in annual and seasonal average temperature and precipitation occurred mainly around the 1990 s and after 2000,respectively.Atmospheric circulation had an important effect on the trends and abrupt changes in temperature and precipitation.The East Asian summer monsoon had the largest impact on the trend of average annual temperature,as well as on the abrupt changes of annual average temperature and precipitation.Temperature and precipitation changes in the ASRC were influenced by long-term and short-term as well as direct and indirect anthropogenic and natural factors.This study identifies the characteristics of spatio-temporal variations in temperature and precipitation in the ASRC and provides a scientific reference for the formulation of climate change responses.