Status Analysis of Desertification in Chaobaihe River Basin Based on RS and GIS

Chaobaihe river basin is one of the main water sources in Beijing.At present,it shoulders the burden of serving Green Olympics.Desertification has occurred because of the influence of various factors.It is significant that the status quo and formation causes of desertification should be understood and researched to prevent and control desertification,and hence to improve the ecological environment in Beijing.In this paper,multi-spectral and panchromatic images of SPOT5 in April 2007 were selected,with three assistant data(vegetation coverage,soil type and land use),to extract the information of desertification.The status quo of desertification in Chaobaihe river basin was analyzed.The situations of desertification on different vegetation coverage and land use were studied.And then formation causes of desertification were discussed.The results showed that land with the vegetation coverage ranged from 30% to 60% possessed the major portion of desertification.Most of desertification was distributed on woodland,grassland and unutilized land.Desertification was the result of double effects of nature and human being.