Land use/coverage characteristics and diversity indexes under different elevations

slopes

aspects and relief amplitudes in Danjiang River basin of Shaanxi Province were studied using RS and GIS techniques through the format conversion and identity between vector data and grid data.Results indicated that in Danjiang River basin

grassland was dominated in all the landuse types.The distributions of landuse types except water surface presented significant peaks with increased elevation.The areal proportion for cropland

forest

and grassland at the elevations from 800 to 1 200 m was the largest;the areal proportion of landuse types on 15°~25° slopes was the largest;slope aspect had little effect on the landuse distribution;and 200~300 m altitude was the common critical interval of relief amplitudes for forest and grassland.Result from the study not only reflects the landuse changes and the influence of natural driving factors

but also favors the further study of landuse structural adjustment and soli and water conversation planning in Danjiang River basin.