Improved estimation method of soil wind erosion based on remote sensing and geographic information system in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China

Detailed information pertaining to soil erosion is required to ensure eco-environment protection and economic development for Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and remote sensing and geographical information system technologies are adopted to obtain an accurate distribution of soil erosion. An improved estimation method for wind erosion is developed, which proves to be effective with an overall precision of 87.24%. The proposed model uses six critical factors: number of snow cover days, soil erodibility, aridity index, vegetation fraction, soil crust index, and wind field intensity. Results show that soil wind erosion is widely distributed throughout the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The average erosion intensity is 0.50, which is determined to be a moderate erosion level. The wind erosion intensity increases from a slight level in the western part to a severe level in the mid-eastern part. The mean intensity of soil wind erosion for varying land use types is ranked in descending magnitude of barren or sparse vegetation, open shrubland, grassland, cropland, evergreen coniferous forest, and mixed forest. There are large differences in soil wind erosion intensities among soil types; grassland has severe wind erosion and Luvic Arenosols has the lowest erosion intensity.