Temporal and spatial variability response of groundwater level to land use/land cover change in oases of arid areas

This paper conducts a case study on the impacts of land use/cover change (LUCC) on the temporal and spatial variability of the groundwater level in an arid oasis in the Sangong River Watershed by using the geographical information system (GIS), remote sensing (RS) and geostatistical methods. The temporal and spatial variability of the groundwater level in the watershed in 1978,1987 and 1998 is regressed by using the semivariogram model and Kriging interpolation. The LUCC classification maps derived from the aerial images in 1978, Lahdsat TM image in 1987 and Landsat ETM image in 1998 are used to superpose and analyze the conversion relationship of LUCC types in the regions with different isograms of the groundwater depth. The results show that the change of groundwater recharge was not so significant in the whole oasis, but the temporal and spatial LUCC was significant either in the normal flow periods or in the high flow periods during the 20-year period from 1978 to 1998, and there was a close correlation between them. There is generally a moderate spatial correlation of groundwater level (33.4%), and the spatial autocorrelation distance is 17.78 km. The regions where the groundwater level is sharply changed are also the regions where the land resources are increasingly exploited, which include mainly the exploitation of farmlands, woodlands, and building, industrial and mining lands. The study reveals that the LUCC affects strongly the temporal and spatial variability of the groundwater level in the arid oasis. The study results are of direct and practical significance for rationally utilizing shallow groundwa-ter resources and maintaining the stability of the arid oasis.