Effects of land use change on water use fluxes in the semi arid region of Inner Mongolia

Land Use/Cover in Inner Mongolia, a semi-arid region that is predominantly steppe in Northern Eurasia has undergone significant changes resulting in inter-annual climatic anomalies as well as changes in the local hydrological cycle and energy balance. A comparison of MODIS derived IGBP Land cover with the AVHRR derived IGBP (1992-93) land cover product showed that the proportion of grassland, agricultural, &barren land cover/use increased with a subsequent decrease in shrub lands and forests. A suite of MODIS derived biophysical variables such as EVI, GPP, as well as water content indices such as LSWI and NDSVI were studied in context of LULC types to study the effects of land cover change (categorical) as well as degraded grassland and desert steppe (fractional cover change). The MODIS derived water content indices were validated by spectro-radiometer readings, obtained during a ground truthing campaign. Initial results from the 2005 growing season suggest that croplands exhibit more water use than grasslands, the dominant land cover type.