Remote sensing & GIS based analysis of desertification changes in Turpan Basin Plain Region, Xinjiang, China

The plain region in Turpan Basin, Xinjiang, China is a typical and area. As its conditions of physical geography are terrible and the human influence on it, the problems of desertification and other eco-environment is getting severe. The fused images of Landsat TM with SPOT-4 (Panchromatic) and SPOT-5 (XS/XI) data were used to calculate the extent of different land-cover types and their changes each other in the plain region. Through combining supervised classification and unsupervised classification the maps of 1990, 1999 and 2004 of vegetation, wind erosion, desertification and salinization were obtained, and then their changes were detected by Geographic Information System (GIS). The relations among climate, soil, vegetation, terrain, salinization, human and desertification were analyzed. The results showed that although the area of desertification in plain region of Turpan Basin appears to be reduced during recent years from macroscopical sense, the area of desert and salinization is increasing continually. Simultaneously, the extent of oasis is expanding on the whole, but the types of land cover between oasis and desert is decreasing. The results not only reflect the changes of desertification in Turpan Basin, Xinjiang, but also could support the sustainable development of this region.