Based on the MODIS remote sensing inversion data from 2001-2013, this paper studied the desertification and characteristics of its seasonal variation in Hetao area through analyzing the land cover types, leaf area index (LAI), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and enhanced vegetation index (EVI). The results showed that from 2001 to 2013, the overall land cover of vegetation in Hetao area was getting better with cultivated land area increasing from 4218 km² in 2001 to 20470 km² in 2013, the average LAI increasing from 0.130-0.335 in 2003 to 0.182-0.405 in 2013, and the overall trend of average NDVI and EVI were increasing year by year, from 0.142 and 0.095 in 2001 to 0.193 and 0.116 in 2013 respectively. Moreover, the quality of vegetation growth per unit area was increasing as well. In addition, according to the characteristics of the seasonal distribution of NDVI, food crops with two harvests a year began to be largely planted in Bayannur League, northern Hetao area around the year of 2013. However, the study also found that the vegetation cover index in Hetao area was still low and the desertification in northern and southwestern Hetao area had deteriorated. Therefore, the ecological environment problems will easily appear without effective measures.

To investigate the emissions from open burning of crop residues in Jianghan Plain by using the Emission Factor Method, household surveys were conducted to obtain the percentages of crop residues burned in fields. Household survey statistics, GLC2000-China product and MODIS active fire products (MOD/MYD14A1) were used to analyze the temporal-spatial distribution of crop residues burning emissions in Jianghan Plain. The results gave a total emission of 73.3 Gg PM2.5, 18.6 Gg OC, 3.27 Gg BC, 7763 Gg CO2, 238 Gg CO, 10.6 Gg CH4, 28.6 Gg NMHCs, 0.382 Gg N2O, 5.74 Gg NH3, 8.26 Gg SO2 and 17.1 Gg NOx from the open burning of crop residues, in 2010, which happened most frequently in May, September and October. Among all subregions, Jianli County contributed the most to the total crop burning emissions, followed by Xiantao and Tianmen City, while Jingzhou municipal district had the highest PM2.5 emissions per unit area. Rice straw was the dominant source of crop burning emissions among all types of crop residues, followed by rape straw and wheat straw.