Quantifying Landscape Pattern and Human impacts on Oases Using Remote Sensing and GIS

摘要

This paper introduces the use of Remote Sensing (RS) technology and GIS, combining with multidisciplinary methods, at the Zhangye and Jiuquan Oases in northwest China. Results show that: The integration of RS and GIS, Landscape Ecology, Settlement Geography, Community Ecology and social science is an efficient way to analyze landscape pattern and human impacts; The combination of Human Impact Index (HIM) and Human Pressure Index (HPI) can illustrate the influencing intensity of human beings explicitly; Nearest Distribution Pattern Index (NDPI) and spatial neighboring proportion can describe landscape pattern superior to partial traditional indices. NDPI is a potential index to replace Contagion. The neighboring proportion can reveal the neighboring relation more clearly than the Interspersion & Juxtaposition Index; The conclusions obtained from the Landsat TM data are well in accordance with the field survey and multidisciplinary analysis: Farmland and settlement are the key components in the both oases; At the patch types level, the distributing pattern is quite complex in the both oases. At the landscape level, the both oases are distributed randomly; Because of higher population pressure, more developed agriculture and communication, and higher density of manual corridor, the spatial pattern is more homogeneous and the human impacts on Zhangye Oasis are stronger than Jiuquan Oasis.