The Taklamakan Desert has shrunk over the last two decades

As a prominent Asian desert, the sandy environment of Taklamakan Desert plays a crucial role in shaping the regional climate and maintaining ecosystem stability. Previous studies have mainly relied on vegetation indices to monitor greening effects, indirectly revealing patterns of sandy distribution and desertification trends. Remote sensing monitoring of sandy land based on long-term imagery straightforwardly reflects the dynamics of Taklamakan Desert; however, there has been limited exploration. Therefore, focusing on the Taklamakan Desert-Oasis Transition Zone (TD-OTZ), this study used time-series (2003−2022) Landsat images to obtain the spatial information of sandy and explore its change characteristics.