Geospatial analysis of land use driving force in coal mining area: case study in Ningdong, China

Geospatial techniques such as remote sensing and Geographic Information System are very important for studying the dynamic process of land use. To analyze the land use change and assess the driving force, SPOT satellite images of 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2018 were used. Classification of land use was applied using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and Maximum Likelihood Technique in ENVI 5.3. Transition images and matrix were applied using Arcgis10.5 with the Excel PivotTable function. To determine the driving forces of land use change in the study area, Quantitative and Qualitative analysis were applied. Data were compared with statistical analysis using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Results showed that, the images of the study area were categorized into vegetation (arable land, garden, woodland, grassland, water and agriculture), construction (industrial and transportation) and unutilized land (salt marsh, sandy land, bare land and gully erosion land). From 2005 to 2018, constriction land use greatly increased from 100.41 km2 (2.88%) and 305.13 km2 (8.76%), respectively. Vegetation was decreased from 3190 km2 (91.55%) 3028 km2 (86.91%) in 2005 and 2018, respectively. Results of the comprehensive index of land use degree, dynamic degree, quantitative and qualitative analysis show major changes in land use of the area that caused by human activities especially new developments during the period of the study. The results showed that the Ningdong base in 2005–2018 has been in the stage of sustainable development, mainly in the conversion of grassland, forest land and cultivated land to construction land. High values of rate of change in land use related to the development and new construction and building area. This development might be as a result of anthropogenic activities through urban growth coupled with its potential impacts on urban climate. The principal component analysis shows that human activities drive the change of land use pattern in Ningdong, mainly including the policy of closing the grazing ban, industrialization and scale, population growth and urbanization. Results can provide effective data for the future ecological environment protection and sustainable development of Ningdong Energy Base. Remote sensing is a good technique for assessing the actual sequence in the development of any area that may be caused by human activities.