Evaluation of ecological quality of eastern Yuxi City based on the improved remote sensing ecological index

With the continuous development of urbanization and tourism in the eastern part of Yuxi City, frequent human activities have a non-negligible impact on the ecological environment, and it is important to conduct objective monitoring and evaluation of ecological quality. This study selects the eastern part of Yuxi City as the study area, adds soil and water conservation factors to the remote sensing ecological index model, and constructs an improved remote sensing ecological index (IRSEI) model. It also uses standard deviation ellipse, trend analysis, and Hurst persistence analysis to investigate the spatial and temporal changes of ecological quality in the study area between 2003 and 2019, making corresponding suggestions. The results showed that: 1) the ecological quality of the study area showed a trend of deterioration followed by improvement during the study period, and the overall ecological level was a good to low level, with the average value of IRSEI around 0.5. 2) Spatially, the ecological quality shows a “northeast-southwest” trend, and the area of persistent deterioration is about 102 665.07 hm², mainly in the arable land the south of Yangzong Lake. 3) Factors such as elevation and human activities have different degrees of influence on ecological quality. In summary, this study can provide important reference values for promoting the sustainable socio-economic development of the area and for subsequent spatial planning.