Spatio-temporal Change in Land Usage in Yilong Lake Basin Calculated Using Spatial Transfer Map

Abstract

【Objective】 Yilong Lake is located in Yunnan province. Like many other regions in China, its land usage has undergone change over the past decades. The purpose of this paper is to quantify this change using satellite imageries. 【Method】 The analysis is based on satellite imageries acquired from 1999 to 2018 from the basin. Land use transfer matrix and the CA-Markov model were used to analyze the spatial distribution and change in land usage during this period. 【Result】 ①The land use was dominated by croplands from 1999 to 2005 and forest from 2010 to 2018. ②The areas of cropland, pasture, natural land and surface water bodies had been in decline from 1999 to 2018, with their overall areas reduced by 50.60, 27.17, 24.72 and 6.66 km2, respectively. In contrast, forest and urban areas had both increased significantly. The increase in forest areas is mainly due to the conversion of cropland, pasture and natural lands, while the increase in urban areas is mainly due to the use of cropland and natural land. ③It is expected that by 2050, urban and forest areas in the region will increase to 98.62 and 161.03 km2, respectively, while the area of surface water will decrease. 【Conclusion】 The important goal in land resource management in the Yilong lake watershed in the future should be to control the increase in urban area and the decrease in surface water bodies.

Keywords

• yilong lake basin
• land use
• transition matrix
• spatial change
• ca-markov model