Using high-resolution aerial images to study gully development at the regional scale in southern China
There are 239,100 gullies in southern China, which cause the degradation of ecological system. However, studies on gully development at the regional scale is relatively lack. The purpose of this study is to analyze the regional gully dynamics and explore how land use and topographic factors affect g...
Main Authors: | , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
2020-06-01
|
Series: | International Soil and Water Conservation Research |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095633920300204 |
id |
doaj-ae16fc572374487f95397a87ab121668 |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-ae16fc572374487f95397a87ab1216682021-04-02T11:42:28ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.International Soil and Water Conservation Research2095-63392020-06-0182173184Using high-resolution aerial images to study gully development at the regional scale in southern ChinaHonghu Liu0Georg Hörmann1Bingyu Qi2Qiuxing Yue3State Key Lab Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Xinong Rd 26, 712100, Yangling, Shaanxi Province, PR China; Changjiang River Scientific Research Institute, Changjiang Water Resource Commission, No 23 Huangpuda Street, 430010, Wuhan, Hubei province, PR China; Corresponding author. Changjiang River Scientific Research Institute, Changjiang Water Resource Commission, No 23 Huangpuda street, 430010, Wuhan, Hubei province, PR China.Department of Hydrology and Water Resources Management, Institute of Natural Resource Conservation, Kiel University, Olshausenstr. 75, D-24098 Kiel, GermanyState Key Lab Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Xinong Rd 26, 712100, Yangling, Shaanxi Province, PR ChinaState Key Lab Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Xinong Rd 26, 712100, Yangling, Shaanxi Province, PR ChinaThere are 239,100 gullies in southern China, which cause the degradation of ecological system. However, studies on gully development at the regional scale is relatively lack. The purpose of this study is to analyze the regional gully dynamics and explore how land use and topographic factors affect gully development. Input data consists of land use maps derived from high-resolution images from 2004 to 2014, and topography maps from a digital elevation model with a pixel size of 8 m × 8 m in two 25-km2 study sites of Anxi (AX) and Xingning county (XN). The following results were obtained: (1) AX gullies decreased from 2006 to 2014 while XN first increased from 2004 to 2009, and then decreased from 2009 to 2014. Both AX and XN gully area in percentage of the total area ranged from 1% to 3%, which was higher than the average 0.25% of the whole southern China by the artificial survey in 2005. (2) Most of AX and XN gullies occurred along the ridgeline and had the close relationships with the upstream contributing area and slope gradient. (3) New gullies developed on the exposed land and forestland. The lost gullies were converted into forestland and grassland. In fact, most of these gullies were only covered by vegetation, not real disappearance. These results proved that gully decreased, but construction of roads and buildings intensified gully development. Consequently, these findings reveal that vegetation protection and ecological restoration should be adopted in southern China.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095633920300204Digital elevation modelSlope gradientExposed landsUpstream contributing area |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Honghu Liu Georg Hörmann Bingyu Qi Qiuxing Yue |
spellingShingle |
Honghu Liu Georg Hörmann Bingyu Qi Qiuxing Yue Using high-resolution aerial images to study gully development at the regional scale in southern China International Soil and Water Conservation Research Digital elevation model Slope gradient Exposed lands Upstream contributing area |
author_facet |
Honghu Liu Georg Hörmann Bingyu Qi Qiuxing Yue |
author_sort |
Honghu Liu |
title |
Using high-resolution aerial images to study gully development at the regional scale in southern China |
title_short |
Using high-resolution aerial images to study gully development at the regional scale in southern China |
title_full |
Using high-resolution aerial images to study gully development at the regional scale in southern China |
title_fullStr |
Using high-resolution aerial images to study gully development at the regional scale in southern China |
title_full_unstemmed |
Using high-resolution aerial images to study gully development at the regional scale in southern China |
title_sort |
using high-resolution aerial images to study gully development at the regional scale in southern china |
publisher |
KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. |
series |
International Soil and Water Conservation Research |
issn |
2095-6339 |
publishDate |
2020-06-01 |
description |
There are 239,100 gullies in southern China, which cause the degradation of ecological system. However, studies on gully development at the regional scale is relatively lack. The purpose of this study is to analyze the regional gully dynamics and explore how land use and topographic factors affect gully development. Input data consists of land use maps derived from high-resolution images from 2004 to 2014, and topography maps from a digital elevation model with a pixel size of 8 m × 8 m in two 25-km2 study sites of Anxi (AX) and Xingning county (XN). The following results were obtained: (1) AX gullies decreased from 2006 to 2014 while XN first increased from 2004 to 2009, and then decreased from 2009 to 2014. Both AX and XN gully area in percentage of the total area ranged from 1% to 3%, which was higher than the average 0.25% of the whole southern China by the artificial survey in 2005. (2) Most of AX and XN gullies occurred along the ridgeline and had the close relationships with the upstream contributing area and slope gradient. (3) New gullies developed on the exposed land and forestland. The lost gullies were converted into forestland and grassland. In fact, most of these gullies were only covered by vegetation, not real disappearance. These results proved that gully decreased, but construction of roads and buildings intensified gully development. Consequently, these findings reveal that vegetation protection and ecological restoration should be adopted in southern China. |
topic |
Digital elevation model Slope gradient Exposed lands Upstream contributing area |
url |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095633920300204 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT honghuliu usinghighresolutionaerialimagestostudygullydevelopmentattheregionalscaleinsouthernchina AT georghormann usinghighresolutionaerialimagestostudygullydevelopmentattheregionalscaleinsouthernchina AT bingyuqi usinghighresolutionaerialimagestostudygullydevelopmentattheregionalscaleinsouthernchina AT qiuxingyue usinghighresolutionaerialimagestostudygullydevelopmentattheregionalscaleinsouthernchina |
_version_ |
1721571617988935680 |