Spatial Changes of Cultivated Land in Zhongshan City Based on RS and GIS

Land use change was the most significant aspect in the research field of globe changing. Affected by both of natural and artificial factors, the land use and land resources quality varied continually. Zhongshan City where the zone had a typical feature of land use change and significant ecological effects was selected as a case. Applying the satellite images of Landsat-TM and the integrating techniques of RS and GIS, this paper analyzed the temporal and spatial processes and the spatial conversion of Cultivated land in Zhongshan City from 1988 to 2002. The results showed that the Cultivated land area reduced rapidly and experienced rapid change under the pressure of urban expansion. It was the main period about the Cultivated land to reduce from 1988 to 1995. More than 70 percent of Cultivated land was converted to construction sites. Other types of lands also were converted to the Cultivated land, which waters and the forest land were the major types.