{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,19]],"date-time":"2026-03-19T13:08:28Z","timestamp":1773925708133,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":64,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2015,1,26]],"date-time":"2015-01-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1422230400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Deserts are critical environments because they cover 41% of the  world\u2019s land surface and are home to 2 billion residents. As highly  dynamic biomes desert expansion and contraction is influenced by climate  and anthropogenic factors with variability being a key part of the  desertification debate across dryland regions. Evaluating a major world  desert, the Gobi in East Asia, with high resolution satellite data and  the meteorologically-derived Aridity Index from 2000 to 2012 identified a  recent contraction of the Gobi. The fluctuation in area, primarily  driven by precipitation, is at odds with numerous reports of  human-induced desertification in Mongolia and China. There are striking  parallels between the vagueness in defining the Gobi and the imprecision  and controversy surrounding the Sahara desert\u2019s southern boundary in  the 1980s and 1990s. Improved boundary definition has implications  fGobi; desert boundary; expansion and contraction; Aridity Index; NDVI;  Mongolia; China or understanding desert \u201cgreening\u201d and \u201cbrowning\u201d, human  action and land use, ecological productivity and changing climate  parameters in the region. The Gobi\u2019s average area of  2.3 million km2 in the 21st century places it behind only the Sahara and Arabian deserts in size.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs70201346","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2015,1,26]],"date-time":"2015-01-26T13:26:37Z","timestamp":1422278797000},"page":"1346-1358","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":40,"title":["Contraction of the Gobi Desert, 2000\u20132012"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"7","author":[{"given":"Troy","family":"Sternberg","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Geography, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK"}]},{"given":"Henri","family":"Rueff","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Geography, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK"}]},{"given":"Nick","family":"Middleton","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Geography, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2015,1,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"El-Kassas, M., and Ezcurra, E. 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