An analysis of land use changes and driving forces in Ningdong coal base of Ningxia with remote sensing technology

The study of dynamic change of land use in large mining bases can indirectly assess the influence of mineral exploitation on regional ecological environment. Based on satellite image data obtained in 2005, 2010 and 2015 with spatial resolution better than 2.5m, the authors extracted the land utilization information in Ningdong coal base, in combination with artificial visual interpretation and computer automatic extraction technology. On such a basis, the comprehensive index and dynamic attitude of land use were constructed, and the quantitative research was carried out on land use process caused by development; furthermore, a quantitative evaluation system was constructed for land use change with the indicators of economic and social development, and the land use change driving mechanism was analyzed. The results show that, in the stage of continuous land development and utilization from 2005 to 2015 in Ningdong coal base, the grasslands, woodlands and cultivated land were turned into construction land, such as industrial and mining land, but the increase in the comprehensive index of land use was declined, suggesting that the development of Ningdong coal base entered a stable stage, and land use pressure of human activities were gradually declined. Principal component analysis shows that the main driving factors of land use pattern change of Ningdong coal base are human activities including the government controlled grazing policy, industrialization and large scale of energy chemical industry, population growth, urbanization and some other factors. The results can provide a scientific basis for future ecological environment protection of Ningdong coal base.