Extraction Area at Risk of Desertification Using MODIS and Geophysical Data: In Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China

Abstract

Monitoring of desertification processes by satellite remote sensing is an important task in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the arid and semi-arid region in northeastern China. This paper we used a full year time-series of MODIS imagers with 1km spatial resolution to produce a land cover map with emphasis on sparse vegetation as an indicator of detecting desertification. The best classification results were obtained by combines both MODIS images and geophysical datasets. We first select training data using 125 sense ASTER images from 2005 to 2007, and the cloud free one-year MODIS data in 2008 were classified using Decision Tree Method. The result show that major desertification risk areas were: (1) Oasis-desert ecotone, which is easily damaged by human activities. (2) The lower reaches of Tarim River, which is affected by inappropriate water utilization. (3) The overgrazing land in semi-arid regions.