《Assessment of sandy desertification trends in the Shule River Basin from 1978 to 2010》.pdfVIP

Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions Volume 6, Issue 1, February, 2014 Citation: Song X, Yan CZ, Li S, et al., 2014. Assessment of sandy desertification trends in the Shule River Basin from 1978 to 2010. Sciences in Cold and  Arid Regions, 6(1): 52–58. DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1226.2014.00052.   Assessment of sandy desertification trends in the Shule River Basin from 1978 to 2010 * Xiang Song , ChangZhen Yan, Sen Li, JiaLi Xie Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China *Correspondence to: Xiang Song, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences. No. 320, West Donggang Road, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China. Tel: +86-931-4967483; E-mail: songxiang@ Received: January 21, 2013 Accepted: May 26, 2013 ABSTRACT Sandy desertification in the Shule River Basin has expanded dramatically during the past 30 years. We evaluated the status, evolution, and main causes of sandy desertification by interpreting Landsat images which were acquired in 1978, 1990, 2000, 2005, and 2010, and analyzing the relevant meteorological data. The results show there was 3,477.95 km2 2 2 2 , 3,733.32 km , 3,620.29 km , 3,565.65 km , and 3,557.88 km2 of sandy desertified land in 1978, 1990, 2000, 2005, and 20