Understanding grassland ecosystem health condition under integrated driving factors using remote sensing approach

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BACKGROUND: Grassland has been identified as a critical ecosystem as it can be transformed from a carbon sink into a carbon source via inappropriate management practices. Current grassland studies emphasize the influences of individual factors on grassland ecosystems but the components of non-photosynthetic vegetation (NPV) and biological soil crust (BSC) enhance the complexity of this ecosystem, which were ignored by most remote sensing studies because of their difficulty in being measuring spectrally. Accurately estimating the amount of NPV helps determine the carrying capacity for any pasture in winter, which is still an untouched field for remote sensing. The program therefore intends to monitor and evaluate the condition of grassland health by considering the integrated factors from different components via remote sensing, GIS, and spatial analytical techniques.