title: Detecting and analyzing soil phosphorus loss associated with critical source areas using a remote sensing approach.
abstract: The detection of critical source areas (CSAs) is a key step in managing soil phosphorus (P) loss and preventing the long-term eutrophication of water bodies at regional scale. Most related studies, however, focus on a local scale, which prevents a clear understanding of the spatial distribution of CSAs for soil P loss at regional scale. Moreover, the continual, long-term variation in CSAs was scarcely reported. It is impossible to identify the factors driving the variation in CSAs, or to collect land surface information essential for CSAs detection, by merely using the conventional methodologies at regional scale. This study proposes a new regional-scale approach, based on three satellite sensors (ASTER, TM/ETM and MODIS), that were implemented successfully to detect CSAs at regional scale over 15years (2000-2014). The approach incorporated five factors (precipitation, slope, soil erosion, land use, soil total phosphorus) that drive soil P loss from CSAs. Results show that the average area of critical phosphorus source areas (CPSAs) was 15,056km2over the 15-year period, and it occupied 13.8% of the total area, with a range varying from 1.2% to 23.0%, in a representative, intensive agricultural area of China. In contrast to previous studies, we found that the locations of CSAs with P loss are spatially variable, and are more dispersed in their distribution over the long term. We also found that precipitation acts as a key driving factor in the variation of CSAs at regional scale. The regional-scale method can provide scientific guidance for managing soil phosphorus loss and preventing the long-term eutrophication of water bodies at regional scale, and shows great potential for exploring factors that drive the variation in CSAs at global scale.
authors: State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, School of Geography, Beijing Normal University, Beijing Key Laboratory for Remote Sensing of Environment and Digital Cities, Beijing 100875,China.
authors: Hezhen
authors: H
authors: Lou
authors: State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, School of Geography, Beijing Normal University, Beijing Key Laboratory for Remote Sensing of Environment and Digital Cities, Beijing 100875,China.
authors: Shengtian
authors: S
authors: Yang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, School of Geography, Beijing Normal University, Beijing Key Laboratory for Remote Sensing of Environment and Digital Cities, Beijing 100875,China. Electronic address: hzjohnson2003@163.com.
authors: Changsen
authors: C
authors: Zhao
authors: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Landmark Center 404-M, 401 Park Drive, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
authors: Liuhua
authors: L
authors: Shi
authors: State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, School of Geography, Beijing Normal University, Beijing Key Laboratory for Remote Sensing of Environment and Digital Cities, Beijing 100875,China; College of Resource and Environment Engineering, Guizhou University, Guizhou, Guiyang 550025, China.
authors: Linna
authors: L
authors: Wu
authors: Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53705, USA.
authors: Yue
authors: Y
authors: Wang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, School of Geography, Beijing Normal University, Beijing Key Laboratory for Remote Sensing of Environment and Digital Cities, Beijing 100875,China.
authors: Zhiwei
authors: Z
authors: Wang
keywords: CSAs; Regional scale; Remote sensing; Soil phosphorus