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Mapping and analyzing China’s wetlands using MODIS time series data

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Abstract

Gathering accurate information on wetland distribution and changes is of key importance for wetland management. However, wetland mapping using single-date imagery is challenging due to high seasonal and intra-annual hydrodynamic variations, especially for seasonal wetlands. Although time series of satellite images are effective for improving the accuracy of land cover mapping, they have been rarely employed in large-scale wetland mapping. In this study, we used MODIS time series data at 250-m resolution to develop China’s wetland maps, and we analyzed the changes from 2000 to 2015. The results showed that: (1) The method yields good results; the overall accuracy and kappa coefficients of all wetland maps for 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015 were above 80% and 0.79, respectively. (2) In 2015, the total area of wetlands in China was 5.37 × 105 km2. Paddy fields accounted for more than 60% of the wetlands, and these fields were mainly located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and Northeast China. Less than 40% were natural wetlands, which were mainly located in the Tibetan Plateau, Northwest China, and Northeast China. Seasonal marshes were mainly located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. (3) From 2000 to 2015, wetland area decreased by 2.50 × 104 km2. Among all wetlands, permanent marshes are the most degraded and seasonal wetlands the most fragile. This is a major cause for concern. This study proposes a method to automatically generate large-scale wetlands maps, which could contribute immensely to nationwide wetland monitoring and protection.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the National Key R&D Program of China under Grant No. 2017YFA0603004, the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Grant No. XDA19030203 and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41271423).

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  1. Agricultural Information Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Agricultural Big Data, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing, 100081, People’s Republic of China

    Liwei Xing

  2. State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 20 Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101, People’s Republic of China

    Liwei Xing & Zhenguo Niu

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Xing, L., Niu, Z. Mapping and analyzing China’s wetlands using MODIS time series data. Wetlands Ecol Manage 27, 693–710 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-019-09687-y

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