Author(s)

Cuiwen TANG, Guocui QI, Ming GUO, Guanglu HU and Jie Fan

Corresponding Author

Cuiwen TANG

Abstract

Degree of developed maturity of an oasis (ODMD) is a quantization of the mature degree of oasis development. This paper proposes an assessment of the indicators system for ODMD from seven aspects using two methods, namely, coefficient of variation and factor analysis, to evaluate the three oases in Zhangye City, Ganzhou, Linze, and Gaotai, which lie in the middle reaches of Heihe River in northwest China. Results indicated that (1) Ganzhou had the highest value of maturity among the three oases based on the method of coefficient of variation. Gaotai had the lowest value of maturity. (2) Common factor one, which reflects mainly the level of social development, indicated significant differences among the three bases based on factor analysis. Ganzhou had the highest value (11.5097), whereas Gaotai (-10.6361) was nearly opposite that of Ganzhou and Linze had a value between the two oases. The values of common factor two reflects the levels of soil and water resources development and are shown as Linze > Ganzhou > Gaotai. (3) The result of the ODMD of the three oases was Ganzhou > Linze > Gaotai based on the comprehensive evaluation of the two methods mentioned above.

Keywords

Degree of Developed Maturity of Oasis; Coefficient of Variation; Factor Analysis; Zhangye City