Monitoring and Evaluation of Eco-Environment Quality Based on Remote Sensing-Based Ecological Index (RSEI) in Taihu Lake Basin, China

Rapid and effective access to the spatiotemporal patterns and evolutionary trends of the regional eco-environment is key to regional environment protection and planning. Based on the Google Earth Engine platform, we use 165 Landsat images from the summer and autumn seasons (May-November) of 2000, 2010, and 2018 as data sources to calculate the RSEI, which represents the quality of the eco-environment, and then analyze the factors influencing the spatial heterogeneity of the eco-environment and the relationship between eco-environment and land-use changes based on RSEI. The results showed the following: (1) From 2000 to 2018, the overall ecological environment quality of the Taihu Lake Basin showed a stage of rapid decline (2000-2010) and a stage of slow decline (2010-2018). (2) The factors were ranked in order of their explanatory power for the spatial heterogeneity of the RSEI: land-use (0.594) > population density (0.418) > slope (0.309) > elevation (0.308) > GDP (0.304) > temperature (0.233) > precipitation (0.208). An interactive effect was found for each factor of the RSEI, which is mainly represented by a mutual enhancement. (3) From 2000 to 2010, the rapid urban expansion was the main reason for the deterioration of ecological quality. From 2010 to 2018, urban expansion slowed down, and the trend of ecological quality deterioration was effectively curbed. Therefore, promoting the intensive use of land and reducing construction land expansion are key to ensuring sustainable regional socio-economic development.