The spatiotemporal changes of vegetation cover in Beijing-Tianjin sandstorm source control region during 2000-2012

Due to grassland degradation and expansion of desertification, the Northern China continuously suffered from several sandstorms in the spring of 2000. The objective of this study was to analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics of vegetation cover changes and the factors that affect the changes in the core control area of the BTSSR using the time series of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) derived from a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-Radiometer (MODIS) product MODISO2B for the time period of 2000-2012. Linear trend analysis, standard deviation, Hurst index and correlation analysis were employed. The results of comprehensive analysis implied that in the program area the vegetation showed a tendency of healthy development. All the findings greatly enhanced our understanding of how human activities impacted vegetation cover in arid and semi-arid environments and provided scientific guidelines for the management of ecological restoration programs and future directions.