Cultivated land changes and driving force analysis by satellite remote sensing in the Yellow River delta of China

Taking Kenli County of the Yellow River delta as the study area and using digital satellite remote sensing techniques, this paper explores the cultivated land changes and their correspondent driving forces. An interactive interpretation and manual modification procedure was carried out to acquire cultivated land information. A classification result overlay and the visual change detection method supported by land use map were employed to conduct the cultivated land change detection. Based on the change detection results and a spatial analysis between the cultivated land and the related natural and socio-economic factors, the driving force for the cultivated land changes of the study area were deter-mined. The results show that the cultivated land in Kenli County decreased by 5321.8 ha from 1987 to 1998, i.e. 483.8 ha per year, which occurred mainly in the central paddy field region and the northeast dry land region. Adverse human activities, soil salinization and water deficiency consist the driving force that caused the cultivated land changes.