1. Urban Land-Cover Dynamics in Arid China Based on High-Resolution Urban Land Mapping Products
- Author
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Wenhui Kuang, Liangzhong Cao, Tao Pan, Hua Shao, Wenfeng Chi, Chi Zhang, Dengsheng Lu, Zhengjia Liu, Guoming Du, and Xi Chen
- Subjects
IMPACTS ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,SPATIAL-PATTERN ,Population ,0211 other engineering and technologies ,02 engineering and technology ,precise mapping products ,CHARACTERISTICS ,01 natural sciences ,CLASSIFICATION ,Urban climate ,Urbanization ,ECOSYSTEMS ,Impervious surface ,land-cover change ,lcsh:Science ,education ,TEMPERATURE ,021101 geological & geomatics engineering ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Hydrology ,education.field_of_study ,SPATIOTEMPORAL ,LANDSCAPE ,arid China ,Land use ,greening ,Vegetation ,IMPERVIOUS SURFACE ,SPECTRAL MIXTURE ANALYSIS ,Arid ,Earth and Environmental Sciences ,urban expansion ,General Earth and Planetary Sciences ,Environmental science ,lcsh:Q ,Urban ecosystem ,Water resource management ,THEMATIC MAPPER - Abstract
Rapid urbanization has occurred in northwestern China, threatening the sustainability of its fragile dryland ecosystems. A lack of precise urban land-cover information has limited our understanding on the urbanization in the dryland. Here, we examined urban land-cover changes from 2000 to 2014 in 21 major cities that comprise over 50% of the developed land in arid China, using Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus and Operational Land Imager data, and a hybrid classification method. The 15-m resolution urban land-cover products (including impervious surfaces, vegetation, bare soil, and water bodies) had an overall accuracy of 90.37%. Based on these new land use products, we found the urbanization in arid China was characterized by the dramatic expansion of impervious surface (+13.23%) and reduction of bare soil (−13.41%), while the proportions of vegetation (+0.27%) and water (−0.10%) remained stable. The observed dynamic equilibrium of vegetated ratio implies an increasing harmonization of urbanization and greening, which was particularly important for the sustainability of fragile urban ecosystems in arid regions. From an economic perspective, gross domestic product and population were significantly correlated with impervious surfaces, and oasis cities displayed a stronger ability to attract new residents than desert cities.
- Published
- 2017