The Latest Desertification Process and Its Driving Force in Alxa League from 2000 to 2020

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Aeolian desertification is one of the severest eco-environmental issues in the arid and sedi-arid areas, especially in the developing countries. And the investigation of driving factors is essential to combat desertification. The present manuscript investigates the desertification phenomenon in the Alxa League, where distributes three deserts of China. The research method is traditional and feasible. But there are still some problems in the present manuscript. 

(1) Researchers have done a lot of work in desertification research of the deserts in northern China. And in recent years, the desertification in the high latitude regions in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau have drawn the attention of researchers. So it is suggested that the authors should add relative reseach progress in the 'Introduction' part.

(2) The authors employed multiple phase Landsat images in the manuscript. And it is suggested that the authors should list a table to show relative information of these images.

(3) In Figure 1, part of the 'GPS_Sample Points' locate outside the study area. And the GPS_sample points in the Alax Right Banner mainly on the northern part. The authors should demonstrate the reason why they design such a scheme.

(4) The authors should demonstrate the implication of the abbreviation word 'LULC' in Line 138.

The English grammar and terminology expression should be checked and improved. There are too many grammatical mistakes and inconsistent expression of terminology in the context, such as 'human activity' and 'human activities'.

Author Response

Response to Comments

Aeolian desertification is one of the severest eco-environmental issues in the arid and sedi-arid areas, especially in the developing countries. And the investigation of driving factors is essential to combat desertification. The present manuscript investigates the desertification phenomenon in the Alxa League, where distributes three deserts of China. The research method is traditional and feasible. But there are still some problems in the present manuscript.

Response: Thanks for spending your valuable time reviewing our manuscript. We also appreciate your constructive criticisms and have addressed each of your concerns.

 

Comment: Researchers have done a lot of work in desertification research of the deserts in northern China. And in recent years, the desertification in the high latitude regions in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau have drawn the attention of researchers. So it is suggested that the authors should add relative reseach progress in the 'Introduction' part.

Response: Thanks for providing this important comment. We have added some related references and simply introduced them. Please see the lines 79-82.

 

Comment: The authors employed multiple phase Landsat images in the manuscript. And it is suggested that the authors should list a table to show relative information of these images.

Response: Thanks for providing this good comment. We have added the Table 1. Please see the line 170.

 

Comment: In Figure 1, part of the 'GPS_Sample Points' locate outside the study area. And the GPS_sample points in the Alax Right Banner mainly on the northern part. The authors should demonstrate the reason why they design such a scheme.

Response: Thank you for your good suggestion. This is our entire field survey, including the adjacent Hexi Corridor area. The ones outside the study area have been deleted to avoid misunderstanding. As for the field verification points of Alxa Right Banner, they are all distributed in the north, because the south is Tengger Desert and the traffic is not convenient, we mainly investigate the areas along the northern highway, and will improve the supplement of field verification points in the later stage. Please see the revised Figure 1.

 

Comment: The authors should demonstrate the implication of the abbreviation word 'LULC' in Line 138.

Response: Thanks for providing this important comment. We have changed 'LULC' into “land use and land cover”. Please see the line 144-145.

 

Comment: The English grammar and terminology expression should be checked and improved. There are too many grammatical mistakes and inconsistent expression of terminology in the context, such as 'human activity' and 'human activities'.

Response: Thanks for providing this important comment. We have also improved the paper for clarity with changes in blue, including correcting the mistakes in grammar and unification of some terminology.

 

In addition, it should be noted that due to the needs of desertification uncertainty discussion and language polishing, we invited Professor Yan Changzhen as a co-author to provide us with the above help after discussion. Professor Yan Changzhen ([email protected]) is an expert in land use/land generation information extraction and desertification research.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

The manuscript  provides the use of Landsat data to extract desertification land information using the CART decision tree classification method in the Alxa League China. 

Key points include:

The spatio-temporal variation characteristics of desertification land were analyzed by combining the transfer matrix and barycenter migration model;

The effects of climate change and human activities on regional desertification evolution were separated and recombined using the multiple regression residual analysis method and considering the influence of non-zonal factors. 

Some aspects need to correct:

Reference 5 was not cited in the manuscript.

On  line 191 the sentence "in the serious and slight desertification areas, the entropy is low" should be revised as it is not supported by the data shown above.

Overall, the methods employed offer valuable capabilities for the analysis and estimation of the desertification process.

Author Response

Comment: The manuscript provides the use of Landsat data to extract desertification land information using the CART decision tree classification method in the Alxa League China.

Key points include:

The spatio-temporal variation characteristics of desertification land were analyzed by combining the transfer matrix and barycenter migration model;

The effects of climate change and human activities on regional desertification evolution were separated and recombined using the multiple regression residual analysis method and considering the influence of non-zonal factors.

Response: Thanks for spending your valuable time reviewing our manuscript. We also appreciate your constructive criticisms and have addressed each of your concerns.

 

Comment: Reference 5 was not cited in the manuscript.

Response: Thanks for your comments. The Reference 5 was combined with Reference 4 and Reference 6 ([4-6]). Please see the line 45.

 

Comment: On line 191 the sentence "in the serious and slight desertification areas, the entropy is low" should be revised as it is not supported by the data shown above.

 

Response: Thanks for providing this important comment. We intended the types with lower values, and we have left the lowest to avoid the controversy. Please see the line 202.

 

Comment: Overall, the methods employed offer valuable capabilities for the analysis and estimation of the desertification process.

Response: Thank you for your affirmation.

 

In addition, it should be noted that due to the needs of desertification uncertainty discussion and language polishing, we invited Professor Yan Changzhen as a co-author to provide us with the above help after discussion. Professor Yan Changzhen ([email protected]) is an expert in land use/land generation information extraction and desertification research.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

In recent years, with the global consensus on biodiversity and ecological civilization, the importance of desertification has reached an unprecedented level. The latest desertification monitoring showed that desertification in China had being reversed both in the area and degree, but the problem of desertification process and driving mechanism in arid and extremely arid inland areas (oases with non-zonal vegetation distribution) has not been completely solved. This paper developed a method for extracting desertification information in view of the desertification process and driving mechanism in the last 20 years in the Alxa Plateau, one of the driest places in the world, and proposed a method to reveal the driving mechanism of desertification based on the dynamic changes of non-zonal vegetation in the terminal area, and discovered the temporal and spatial characteristics of regional desertification process and driving factors. The paper has obvious innovation, the overall quality is high, thus it is recommended to publish after minor revision.

In addition, there are the following suggestions for your reference.

 

1. The aspects of remote sensing technology and data are enriched in the abstract.

 

2. In the method part, supplement the specific information and time of the remote sensing images.

 

3. In the discussion, the role of human activities in the development and reversal of desertification is mostly described qualitatively, and it is suggested to supplement the corresponding socio-economic data and information on ecological management measures to be more reliable.

 

4. The vegetation status in arid areas is relatively unstable and is greatly affected by current or previous weather conditions, so the characteristics of local desertification may be inconsistent with the long-term desertification trend, which is uncertain and can be supplemented for discussion.

5. Some relative references should be added in the Discussion.

A novel remote sensing monitoring index of salinization based on three dimensional feature space model and its application in the Yellow River Delta

Carbon storage simulation and analysis in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region based on CA-plus model under dual-carbon background

The salinization process and its response to the combined processes of climate change–human activity in the Yellow River Delta between 1984 and 2022

Author Response

In recent years, with the global consensus on biodiversity and ecological civilization, the importance of desertification has reached an unprecedented level. The latest desertification monitoring showed that desertification in China had being reversed both in the area and degree, but the problem of desertification process and driving mechanism in arid and extremely arid inland areas (oases with non-zonal vegetation distribution) has not been completely solved. This paper developed a method for extracting desertification information in view of the desertification process and driving mechanism in the last 20 years in the Alxa Plateau, one of the driest places in the world, and proposed a method to reveal the driving mechanism of desertification based on the dynamic changes of non-zonal vegetation in the terminal area, and discovered the temporal and spatial characteristics of regional desertification process and driving factors. The paper has obvious innovation, the overall quality is high, thus it is recommended to publish after minor revision.

Response: Thanks for spending your valuable time reviewing our manuscript. We also appreciate your constructive criticisms and have addressed each of your concerns.

 

Comment: The aspects of remote sensing technology and data are enriched in the abstract.

Response: Thanks for providing this important comment. We have added it. Please see the line 18.

 

Comment: In the method part, supplement the specific information and time of the remote sensing images.

Response: Thanks for providing this important comment. We have added the Table 1. Please see the lines 159-166.

 

Comment: In the discussion, the role of human activities in the development and reversal of desertification is mostly described qualitatively, and it is suggested to supplement the corresponding socio-economic data and information on ecological management measures to be more reliable.

Response: Thanks for providing this good comment. We have added a Figure about the climate data in the study area. Please see the revised Figure 7.

 

Comment: The vegetation status in arid areas is relatively unstable and is greatly affected by current or previous weather conditions, so the characteristics of local desertification may be inconsistent with the long-term desertification trend, which is uncertain and can be supplemented for discussion.

Response: Thanks for providing this good comment. We have added a paragraph about the uncertainty in the end of the discussion section. Please see the lines 410-418.

 

Comment: Some relative references should be added in the Discussion.

A novel remote sensing monitoring index of salinization based on three dimensional feature space model and its application in the Yellow River Delta

The salinization process and its response to the combined processes of climate change–human activity in the Yellow River Delta between 1984 and 2022

Response: Thanks for providing this important comment and references. Theses references are very enlightening, and it is very meaningful to discuss it in conjunction with the relevant results of this study. Please see the lines 410-418.

 

In addition, it should be noted that due to the needs of desertification uncertainty discussion and language polishing, we invited Professor Yan Changzhen as a co-author to provide us with the above help after discussion. Professor Yan Changzhen ([email protected]) is an expert in land use/land generation information extraction and desertification research.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

I think the authors did a good job in the revision process and it can be accepted in its current version.