| Summary: | [Objective] The ecological water requirement for restoring an area of damaged vegetation in an arid environment was analyzed in order to provide a scientific basis for determining the water resources required in different stages of ecological restoration and the optimal allocation of water resources. [Methods] Based on a series of Landsat images acquired in 1990, 2000, 2010, 2015, and 2020, the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of vegetation water consumption and ecological restoration water demand in the plain area of Habahe County, Xinjiang Wei Autonomous Region were quantitatively analyzed by remote sensing technology combined with an improved Penman formula method. [Results] ① From 1990 to 2020, the average water consumption of natural vegetation was 7.55×108 m3, and decreased at a rate of 3.60×107 m3/5 yr. Correspondingly, the area of natural vegetation decreased at a rate of 17.36 km2/yr, and the vegetation coverage changed from high vegetation coverage to medium vegetation coverage, resulting in serious ecological damage. ② There were great differences in the spatial and temporal distributions of vegetation water consumption in the region: the spatially high values were mainly located in the Haba River basin, while the vegetation water consumption in the Bie River basin was generally low. Temporally, vegetation water consumption in 2000 was the highest, and vegetation water consumption in a given year was mainly concentrated in the middle growth period. ③ The ecological restoration water demand in an oasis area was 4.62×108 m3 for maintaining the status quo (2020), 6.65×108 m3 for restoring to the average ecological level from 1990 to 2020, and 9.55×108 m3 for reaching the best ecological level from 1990 to 2020 (2000). [Conclusion] Under the dual actions of human activities and nature, the ecological environment of the irrigation area showed a degradation trend from 1990 to 2020, and the spatial distribution of ecological water consumption was unbalanced. The spatial and temporal allocation of water demand for ecological restoration of an area of damaged vegetation should be optimized and improved according to the spatial and temporal distribution of water consumption.
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