Remote-sensing images of Ebinur Lake Basin including six years (1960, 1972, 1990, 2000, 2005 and 2010) were interpreted through RS and GIS. Land use changes in Ebinur Lake Basin during the past five decades were analyzed according to interpretation results. On this basis, effect of land use changes on hydrology and water resources was analyzed. Results show that the land use pattern in Ebinur Lake Basin changed greatly from 1960 to 2010. Cultivated Land and Urban-Rural Construction Land increased, while other landuse types decreased. Most areas were Unused Land. Generally, oasis expanded continuously, but oasis in Ganjiahu Zone at downstream of the Kuitun River Basin reduced to some extent. Runoff of the Kuitun River and Jinghe River increased gradually, but runoff of the Bortala River reduced continuously. Both inflows and lake area declined year by year. The groundwater level dropped significantly and water deteriorated continuously. Due to the decelerating wind blowing, evaporation in the basin reduced accordingly. Hydrology and water resources changes in Ebinur Lake Basin in past five decades were mainly caused by continuous expansion of Cultivated Land and oasis, continuous population growth and hydraulic engineering constructions. However, oasis expansion shall be limited within the carrying capacity of water resources. To maintain ecological security in the basin, it is necessary to determine reasonable oasis area, optimize river system structure, and improve utilization efficiency of water resources.

In recent years, the natural hydrology behaviors were greatly influenced by climate change. The relation between runoff and climate change are always the core of scientific hydrological study in arid...

The performance of hydrological models in western China has been restricted due to the scarcity of meteorological observation stations in the region. In addition to improving the quality of atmospheric input data, the use hydrological models to analyze Hydrological Processes on a large scale in western China could prove to be of key importance. The Jing and Bortala River Basin (JBR) was selected as the study area in this research. The China Meteorological Assimilation Driving Datasets for the SWAT model (CMADS) is used to drive SWAT model, in order to greatly improve the accuracy of SWAT model input data. The SUFI-2 algorithm is also used to optimize 26 sensitive parameters within the SWAT-CUP. After the verification of two runoff observation and control stations (located at Jing and Hot Spring) in the study area, the temporal and spatial distribution of soil moisture, snowmelt, evaporation and precipitation were analyzed in detail. The results show that the CMADS can greatly improve the performance of SWAT model in western China, and minimize the uncertainty of the model. The NSE efficiency coefficients of calibration and validation are controlled between 0.659–0.942 on a monthly scale and between 0.526–0.815 on a daily scale. Soil moisture will reach its first peak level in March and April of each year in the JBR due to the snow melting process in spring in the basin. With the end of the snowmelt process, precipitation and air temperature increased sharply in the later period, which causes the soil moisture content to fluctuate up and down. In October, there was a large amount of precipitation in the basin due to the transit of cold air (mainly snowfall), causing soil moisture to remain constant and increase again until snowmelt in early spring the following year. This study effectively verifies the applicability of CMADS in western China and provides important scientific and technological support for the spatio-temporal variation of soil moisture and its driving factor analysis in western China.

Rural tourism is a new driving force for achieving rural revitalization and development, promoting rural economic prosperity, and serving as a new industrial approach to achieving the transformation and upgrading of farmers’ livelihoods. This paper focuses on Manas County as the research subject and employs farmer questionnaire interviews and participatory rural appraisal methods to categorize villages into four types: “scenic area-dependent” villages, “industry-dependent” villages, “folklore-dependent” villages, and “suburban-dependent” villages. Based on the sustainable livelihood analysis framework proposed by the Department for International Development, we developed a sustainable livelihood framework for farm households in Manas County and analyzed the effects of rural tourism on farm households’ livelihood capital and livelihood strategies as the watershed of the rural tourism takes shape, taking livelihood capital and livelihood strategies as the entry point. The factors influencing the livelihood capital and livelihood options of farm households in the context of rural tourism are analyzed. The results show that: (1) The overall livelihood capital of farmers engaging in rural tourism is significantly greater than that of farmers not participating in rural tourism. Additionally, variations exist in the livelihood capital of different types of rural tourism within villages. (2) Participation in rural tourism significantly influences farmers’ choices of livelihood strategies. Compared with individuals who do not engage in rural tourism, those involved in rural tourism are more likely to opt for self-management livelihood strategies. The proportion of self-managed farmers in villages based around scenic areas is the highest. (3) The effect of rural tourism on farm households in Manas County is generally positive, and various types of villages yield different impact effects. (4) Participation in rural tourism significantly increases the possibility of farmers choosing self-management livelihood strategies, while it reduces the possibility of farmers choosing agriculture-oriented livelihood strategies. In all villages, except those dependent on industry, the decision to engage in rural tourism significantly impacts farmers’ selection of self-management livelihood strategies.

The response of spatial and temporal vegetation changes to runoff is a complex process involving the interaction of several factors and mechanisms. Timely and accurate vegetation and runoff change information is an important reference for the water cycle and water resource security. The Ebinur Lake Basin is representative of arid areas worldwide. This basin has been affected by climate change and human activities for a long time, resulting in the destruction of the basin’s ecological environment, and especially its vegetation. However, there have been few studies that have focused on watershed vegetation and runoff changes. Therefore, we combined Generalized Information System and remote sensing technology, used SWAT and InVEST models based on the Google Earth Engine platform, and used the vegetation normalization index method to calculate the spatial distribution of vegetation and water production from 2000 to 2020 in Ebinur Lake. Sen’s trend analysis and the M–K test were used to calculate vegetation and runoff trends. The relationship between vegetation and runoff variation was studied using bivariate spatial autocorrelation based on sub-basins and plant types. The results showed that the Z parameter in the InVEST model spanned from 1–2. The spatial distribution of the water yield in a watershed is similar to the elevation of the watershed, showing a trend of higher altitude leading to a higher water yield. Its water yield capacity tends to saturate at elevations greater than 3500 m. The local spatial distribution of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI) values and water yield clustering in the watershed were consistent and reproducible. Interannual runoff based on sub-basins correlated positively with the overall NDVI, whereas interannual runoff based on plant type correlated negatively with the overall NDVI.

The urban agglomeration plays a significant role in enhancing integrated regional development. Nevertheless, the expansion of urban agglomerations has demonstrated a lackluster ability to attract cities. Presently, finding solutions to stabilize the existing urban strength and effectively extend attraction to neighboring cities has become a crucial matter. This study adopts the enhanced comprehensive attraction model, fracture point model, and radiation radius model to examine the level of city attraction, intensity of radiation, and range of radiation in the northern and southern Xinjiang city clusters between 2010 and 2020. Based on the analysis, the following conclusions are drawn: (1) the comprehensive strength and city attraction of cities in the northern Xinjiang region is higher than that of the southern Xinjiang region; (2) the intensity of spatial connection between cities in the northern and southern Xinjiang regions is gradually increasing, and the intensity of spatial connection of cities in the northern Xinjiang region is significantly greater than that in the southern Xinjiang region. The intensity of spatial connection between cities in the northern and southern Xinjiang regions is significantly greater than that in the southern Xinjiang region; (3) the central role of the central cities in the northern and southern Xinjiang regions is weakening, the development of cities in the region is gradually becoming unified and coordinated, and regional integration is gradually being strengthened. This study reveals the similarities and differences in urban development in the north and south of Xinjiang and provides important theoretical reference value for regional urban development.