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Land-use/land-cover changes （LUCCs） have links to both human and nature inter- actions. China＇s Land-Use/cover Datasets （CLUDs） were updated regularly at 5-year inter- vals from the late 1980s to 2010, with standard procedures based on Landsat TM／ETM＋ im- ages. A land-use dynamic regionalization method was proposed to analyze major land-use conversions. The spatiotemporal characteristics, differences, and causes of land-use changes at a national scale were then examined. The main findings are summarized as fol- lows. Land-use changes （LUCs） across China indicated a significant variation in spatial and temporal characteristics in the last 20 years （1990-2010）. The area of cropland change de- creased in the south and increased in the north, but the total area remained almost un- changed. The reclaimed cropland was shifted from the northeast to the northwest. The built-up lands expanded rapidly, were mainly distributed in the east, and gradually spread out to central and western China. Woodland decreased first, and then increased, but desert area was the opposite. Grassland continued decreasing. Different spatial patterns of LUC in China were found between the late 20th century and the early 21st century. The original 13 LUC zones were replaced by 15 units with changes of boundaries in some zones. The main spatial characteristics of these changes included （1） an accelerated expansion of built-up land in the Huang-Huai-Hai region, the southeastern coastal areas, the midstream area of the Yangtze River, and the Sichuan Basin; （2） shifted land reclamation in the north from northeast China and eastern Inner Mongolia to the oasis agricultural areas in northwest China; （3） continuous transformation from rain-fed farmlands in northeast China to paddy fields; and （4） effective- ness of the ＂Grain for Green＂ project in the southern agricultural-pastoral ecotones of Inner Mongolia, the Loess Plateau, and southwestern mountainous areas. In the last two decades, although climate change in the north affected the change in cropland, policy regulation and economic driving forces were still the primary causes of LUC across China. During the first decade of the 21st century, the anthropogenic factors that drove variations in land-use pat- terns have shifted the emphasis from one-way land development to both development and conservation. The ＂dynamic regionalization method＂ was used to analyze changes in the spatial patterns of zoning boundaries, the internal characteristics of zones, and the growth and decrease of units. The results revealed ＂the pattern of the change process,＂ namely the process of LUC and regional differences in characteristics at different stages. The growth and decrease of zones during this dynamic LUC zoning, variations in unit boundaries, and the characteristics of change intensities between the former and latter decades were examined. The patterns of alternative transformation between the ＂pattern＂ and ＂process＂ of land use and the causes for changes in different types and different regions of land use were explored.

Urban land cover has major impacts on a city＇s ecosystem services and the inherent quality of its urban residential environment. The spatio-temporal distribution of impervious surface area and green areas in Chinese cities has exhibited a significantly marked difference in comparison with USA cities. This study focused on monitoring and comparing the spatio-temporal dynamics, land cover patterns and characteristics of functional regions in six Chinese （n=3） and USA （n=3） cities. The study data were collated from Landsat TM/MSS imagery during the period 1978-2010. Results indicate that Chinese cities have developed compactly over the past three decades, while development has been notably dispersed among USA cities. Mean vegetation coverage in USA cities is approximately 2.2 times that found amongst Chinese urban agglomerations. Land use types within Chinese cities are significantly more complex, with a higher density of impervious surface area. Conversely, the central business district （CBD） and residential areas within USA cities were compdsed of a lower proportion of impervious surface area and a higher proportion of green land. Results may be used to contribute to future urban planning and administration efforts in both China and the USA.

There is growing concern over the effects of climate change on glacier melt and hydrology. In this article, we used two natural small-scale basins, Tuotuo River and Buqu River in the source region of the Yangtze River, China, to show the impacts of glacier melt on stream flow. Changes in the extent of glaciers and ice volume in 1970, 1992 and 2009 are evaluated using remote sensing images. Changes to the glacier surface area over the same time interval are estimated through the delineation of glacier outlines and positions using Landsat TM/ETM＋ imagery. By 2009, the glacier surface area had decreased by 20.83% and 34.81% of the 1970 values in Tuotuo River and Baqu River basins respectively. The total meltwater supply in each basin is estimated to be 2.56×10^9 m^3/yr and 1.24×10^9 m^3/yr respectively. Mass balance calculations show that glaciers in the study area suffered a constant mass loss of snow and ice, accumulatively approximately -24 m over the past 40 years. The annual and summer stream flow tended to increase in Tuotuo River basin from 1970 to 2009 while a negative trend of change was shown in Buqu River basin during 1970-1986. Glaciers became shorter, narrower and thinner under the effect of atmospheric warming. Streamflow increase has been recorded at Tuotuo River station in response to increased glacier and permafrost melt. However, streamflow decrease has been recorded at Yanshiping station on Buqu River, where glacier melt has lagged behind atmospheric warming. These results show a close but variable linkage among climate change, glacier melting and water resources in the source region of the Yangtze River.

A coastline is defined as the average spring tide line. Different types of seacoast, such as sandy, silty, and bio- logical coast, have different indicators of interpretation. It is very difficult to develop a universal method for interpreting all shorelines. Therefore, the sandy, the silty, and the biological coast are regarded as research objects, and with data mining technolog,found the rules of interpretation of those three types of coastlines. Then, an intelligent coastline interpretation method based on rules was proposed. Firstly, the rules for ex- tracting the waterline in Landsat TM/ETM＋ （Thematic Mapper/Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus） imagery were discovered. Then, through analyzing the features of sandy, silty and biological coast, the indicators of interpreting different types of shoreline were determined. According to the indicators, the waterline could be corrected to the real coastline. In order to verify the validity of the proposed algorithms, three Landsat TM/ETM＋ imageries were selected for case studies. The experimental results showed that the proposed methods could interpret the coastlines of sandy; silty, and biological coasts with high precision and without human intervention, which exceeded three pixels.

Based on 11004 satellite images from CBERS CCD and Landsat TM/ETM, changes in the spatial characteristics of all lakes in China were determined following pre-established interpretation rules. This dataset was supported by 6843 digital raster images （1：100000 and 1：50000）, a countrywide digital vector dataset （1：250000）, and historical literature. Comparative data were corrected for seasonal variations using precipitation data. There are presently 2693 natural lakes in China with an area greater than 1.0 km2, excluding reservoirs. These lakes are distributed in 28 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and have a total area of 81414.6 km2, accounting for -0.9% of China＇s total land area. In the past 30 years, the number of newly formed and newly discovered lakes with an area greater than 1.0 km2 is 60 and 131, respectively. Conversely, 243 lakes have disappeared in this time period.

Morphology and structure of a faulted zone not only express the present status but also preserve the evidences of early seismo-tectonic occurrences. The present paper aims to assess the morphological as well as subsurface evidences of early seismo-tectonic occurrences in an earth- quake prone zone of Baromura Hill, Tripura. Tectonically this is a part of Tripura-Mizoram fold belt and fall within Zone V of BIS seismic map. In the present research the tectonic lineaments of Baromura Hill was identified by using satellite data. For that purpose, Landsat TM shortwave in- frared, midwave infrared and near infrared was selected for preparing suitable band combination. A classified thermal infrared was used for final operation. From the remote sensing operation five clear tectonic lineaments were found. During the field work rock samples were collected for labora- tory testing. Thin sections of the rocks show that complex stress pattern was developed during the geological past which caused strong seismo-tectonic occurrences. From the study it can be assessed that though the nature of the paleo-seismic occurrences were almost same but the level of impact varied through spatial and temporal scales due different physical properties and arrangements. It is also clear from the study that the geological evolution of this place is more complex as it seems to be. Tectonic and geomorphic processes worked together through the Tertiary and Quaternary periods and played equally important role for landform evolution.

Tropical forests have been recognized as having global conservation importance. However,they are being rapidly destroyed in many regions of the world. Regular monitoring of forests is necessary for an adaptive management approach and the successful implementation of ecosystem management. The present study analyses the temporal changes in forest ecosystem structure in tribal dominated Malkangiri district of Orissa,India,during 1973-2004 period based on digitized forest cover maps using geographic information system （GIS） and interpretation of satellite data. Three satellite images Landsat MSS （1973）,Landsat TM （1990） and IRS P6 LISS III （2004） were used to determine changes. Six land cover types were delineated which includes dense forest,open forest,scrub land,agriculture,barren land and water body. Different forest types were also demarcated within forest class for better understanding the degradation pattern in each forest types. The results showed that there was a net decrease of 475.7 km2 forest cover （rate of deforestation = 2.34） from 1973 to 1990 and 402.3 km2 （rate of deforestation = 2.27） from 1990 to 2004. Forest cover has changed over time depending on a few factors such as large-scale deforestation,shifting cultivation,dam and road construction,unregulated management actions,and social pressure. A significant increase of 1222.8 km2 agriculture area （1973-2004） clearly indicated the conversion of forest cover to agricultural land. These alterations had resulted in significant environmental consequences,including decline in forest cover,soil erosion,and loss of biodiversity. There is an urgent need for rational management of the remaining forest for it to be able to survive beyond next decades. Particular attention must be paid to tropical forests,which are rapidly being deforested.

Geomorphologic maps are one of the most fundamental materials of the natural environment. They have been widely used in scientific research,resource exploration and extraction,education and military affairs etc. An editorial committee was established in 2001 to collect materials for researching and compiling a set of new 1：1,000,000 geomorphologic atlas of China. A digital geomorphologic database was created with visual interpretation from Landsat TM/ETM imageries and SRTM-DEM etc. The atlas compiled from the database was finished. The main characteristics of the atlas are as follows：Firstly,Landsat TM/ETM imageries,published geomorphologic maps or sketches,geographical base maps,digital geological maps,and other thematic maps were collected,which were uniformly geometrically rectified,clipped into uniform sheets,and stored in the foundation database. Secondly,based on the legends of 15 sheets 1：1,000,000 maps published in the 1980s,a geomorphologic classification system was built by combining morphology and genesis types. The system comprised seven hierarchical layers：basic morphology,genesis,sub-genesis,morphology,micro-morphology,slope and aspect,material composition and lithology. These layers were stored in the database during visual image interpretation. About 2000 kinds of morpho-genesis and 300 kinds of morpho-structure were interpreted. Thirdly,the legend system was built,which included color,symbol bases and note bases etc.,compilation standards and procedures were developed,74 sheets of 1：1,000,000 covering all land and sea territories of China were compiled,the 1：1,000,000 geomorphologic atlas of the People＇s Republic of China was finished and published. The atlas will fill the blanks in national basic scale thematic maps,and the geomorphologic database could be applied widely in many fields in the future.

Three Landsat TM imageries （taken on 18 May 1987,4 August 1998 and 28 July 2007） were used as the data source to identify the spatial and temporal variations of the suspended sediment concentration （SSC） in surface waters of the Changjiang Estuary.Atmospheric correction was carried out to determine the water-leaving reflectance using the FLAASH module.A regression equation between surveyed SSC and suspended sediment index was chosen to retrieve the SSC from the Landsat TM images.In addition,tidal harmonic analysis was performed to calculate tidal conditions corresponding to the acquisition time of satellite images.The results show that the SSC spatial patterns are similar to the in situ observation results,which show the highest SSC in the region of turbidity maximum zone in the Changjiang Estuary.For the period of 1987 to 2007,the SSC pattern is controlled mainly by tidal dynamic conditions and wind speeds,rather than sediment discharges from the river.

False color Landsat ETM＋ （bands 7, 4, 2 in RGB） and SRTM images of the EI-Faiyum depression, Egypt, highlights major NE-SW faults and other lineaments trending NW-SE and N-S. Airborne magnetic data reveal some E-W subsurface faults which are not recognized on Landsat ETM＋ and SRTM images. Ratio images （5/7, 3/1, 4/3） and （5/7, 5/1, 4） were used for lithological discrimination of different rock types. The EI-Faiyum area is occupied by sedimentary rocks of Middle Eocene, Upper Eocene, Oligocene, Lower Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene and Holocene. Understanding the structural regime of EI-Faiyum depression in the Western Desert of Egypt is significant in relation to the neotectonics of the Nile Delta and to the development of new communities west of the delta. The area is covered by Late Cretaceous, Middle to Late Eocene deposits, Oligocene deposits （comprising fluviatile sediments and basalt sheets） and Pliocene and Quaternary alluvium and sand deposits. New geological and structural maps were prepared at a scal