Land Cover Change Detection in Shangri-La Based on Landsat Time Series

Landsat remote sensing images are used in this study based on the Google Earth Engine platform. The Normalized Burn Ratio index is used as the spectral value of the LandTrendr time division algorithm to carry out land cover change detection in Shangri-La. The results show that: From 1986 to 2016, the area of forest, unused land, permanent glaciers, and snowfields are decreasing continuously. The area of grassland, water bodies and construction land are increasing. Forest is the most important land cover type in Shangri-La, accounting for more than 80% of the total. Shangri-La's land cover change dynamics are generally low, and the land cover change process is relatively stable. Most of the forest land in Shangri-La has not changed, with moderate disturbances and slight restorations in 31 years. The total area of forest land in Shangri-La is decreasing over the years. In terms of the duration of disturbance and restoration, the main types of forest land changes from 1986 to 2016 are disturbances lasting 1–5 years and restoration lasting 21–31 years. Natural disasters and man-made logging consume forest land at a much faster rate than the natural growth rate of forest stands. If forest land protection measures are not perfected, forest land resources will become increasingly scarce.