Interannual variation of vegetation greenness and water body surface area and their relationship with settlement development in Xinjiang, China

Abstract

The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), as the largest autonomous region in China, experienced an unprecedented combination of economic reforms, exploration of natural resources, and population growth in last three decades. Using the 8 day composite 500m resolution MODIS reflectance data, we examined interannual variation of vegetation greenness and water body surface area in this area from 2000 to 2014. The annual mean NDVI was increasing in the entire region, with 34.02% significantly improved and only 3.2% deteriorated. The surface area of major lakes in plain area showed a significant shrinking trend. As a case study, their relationship with human settlement development was examined in Manas river valley with multi-temporal Landsat data. Our results indicate the anthropogenic impacts on environmental change in dryland Xinjiang in addition to climate change.