By using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) with the resolution of 80kmx80km, satellite remote sensing data, derived from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis showed that surface vegetation cover in large areas of northwest China took on a significantly increasing trend between 1982 and 1994, and decreased after 1995. The first two temporal coefficients corresponding to respective eigenvector can reflect the annual change of vegetation exactly in the west of China. The correlation analysis between NDVI and the frequency of sand storms, blowing sand and floating dust illuminate that annual change of vegetation is one of the most important factors affecting disaster weather, such as sand-dust events. Meanwhile, correlation analyses also demonstrate that the snowfall in the part of western China plays an important role in sand-dust events. In this study, the influence of vegetation and snow cover in the west of China on the frequency of sand-dust events is revealed directly in virtue of remote sensing data, weather observational data and statistical methods.
