The spatialtemporal variations of vegetation cover in Xinjiang from 1982 to 2013

The spatialtemporal dynamic change of vegetation was monitored based on the modeled longterm Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data in Xinjiang. The results showed that vegetation increased overall in the last 32 years, while there was stages difference and spatial heterogeneity. The NDVI values in growing season were high in the west and northwest and low in the south and southeast. The area with increased NDVI values was much larger than the area with decreased NDVI values during the study period in Xinjiang. The values of NDVI in the cropland area significantly increased whereas the values of NDVI in the grassland area significantly decreased. The center of vegetation moved from north to south in the whole study area, moved from southwestnortheast in the north to the Tianshan mountain and moved from west to east in the south to the Tianshan mountain