Remote sensing monitoring and evaluation of the temporal and spatial changes in the eco-environment of a typical arid land of the Tarim Basin in Western China

Abstract

The eco-environment provides various spaces, conditions, and resources for human development, and their quality is a significant factor affecting sustainable development in a region. Most drylands face environmental fragility due to problems such as infertile land, scarce suitable living space, and a lack of resources. Therefore, investigating the temporal and spatial changes in the eco-environment of drylands is vital to developing them sustainably. This paper takes Hetian, which is located in the Tarim Basin ofWestern China and has typical features of an arid (or a hyper-arid) region, as the research area. The ecological index (EI) was used to construct a comprehensive ecological evaluation system, and five sub-indices (the biological richness index, vegetation coverage index, water network denseness index, land stress index, and pollution load index) were calculated to identify the quality and changes in the eco-environment of Hetian in 1995, 2009, and 2018. The results show that, from 1995 to 2018, the EI in Hetian showed a continuous downward trend (from 24.76 to 16.32), representing a change (DEI) of 􀀀8.44; this indicates significant deterioration in the quality of the local eco-environment. Large fluctuations in the EI also suggests that the environment in Hetian is very sensitive. In addition, the results revealed a degradation of Hetian, which includes a hyper-arid region.