Abstract:

Using MODIS remote sensing data products from 2001 to 2020 and climate data from He'nan province over the last 30 years (from 1991 to 2020), an ecological tourism suitability Index (ESI) considering vegetation coverage, ecological oxygen release, aerosol optical thickness, and holiday climate index was established based on the principal component analysis method. The ESI was then used to evaluate the ecological tourism suitability in He'nan province over the past 20 years. The results show that over the past 20 years, the vegetation coverage and ecological oxygen release in He'nan province have generally shown an increasing trend with change rates of 12.5% and 191 g·m^-2 as well as relative change rates of 30.2% and 32.3%, respectively. The aerosol optical thickness and holiday climate index show an overall decreasing trend with change rates of -0.07 and -1.65, and relative change rates of -13.6% and -2.25%, respectively, indicating an overall improvement in the ecological environment of He'nan province. The ESI constructed using principal component analysis avoids the bias in results caused by different weight settings due to subjective methods, and is more objective and reliable. The evaluation results are generally consistent with the current distribution of ecological tourism areas in He'nan province and can objectively reflect the spatial differences in ecological tourism suitability within the region. The high-value areas of the ESI are concentrated in the Funiu Mountain area of the west and the Dabie Mountain area of the south, while the low-value areas are concentrated in the North China Plain area. The change rate of the ESI in 2020 relative to that in 2001 was 3%, indicating an improving trend in the ESI.

Key words: Multi-source data, Ecotourism suitability, Principal component analysis