## 3 Results and Analysis
### Characteristics of Desertification Land Transfer Change  
The transfer matrix efficiently expresses the interconversion relationship between different types of land across the two periods of 2010 and 2020, and can be used to investigate the spatial evolution process and characteristics of desertification land. Using the mathematical model of transfer matrix, the transfer matrix of desertification land from 2010 to 2020 was obtained as reported in Tables 3 and 4 and spatially depicted in Figure 5.  
The area transformed into each type of desertification land in the Urat front flag is 66.9% of the total area of the Urat front flag. Additionally, the amount of transformation into each type of desertification land from high to low is: extremely serious desertification > moderate desertification > weak desertification > serious desertification > non-desertification. The transformation of desertification types in the Urat front flag mostly ranges from very serious to moderate, from serious to non-desertification, and from weak to non-desertification, covering 22.5045 km\({}^{2}\), 44.0478 km\({}^{2}\), and 319.2160 km\({}^{2}\), respectively. Nearly half of the serious desertification land is transformed into other types of land, and the area of other types of land transformed into serious desertification land is 540.7380 km\({}^{2}\), while the area of land converted from other types of land to \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**2010–2020** & \begin{tabular}{c} **Severe Dete-** \\ **rioration** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **Deterioration** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **No Change** \\ \end{tabular} & \
\begin{tabular}{c} **Restoration** \\ \end{tabular} &
\begin{tabular}{c} **Obvious** \\ **Restoration** \\ \end{tabular} \\ \hline Area & 2470.524 & 236.0673 & 653.1516 & 1625.8000 & 1043.8430 \\ \hline Percent (\%) & 41.0 & 3.9 & 10.8 & 27.0 & 17.3 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: The change in the spatiotemporal pattern of desertification in the study area, km\({}^{2}\). Figure 5: Changes in spatio-temporal patterns of desertification in the study area. non-desertification is 309.3220 km\({}^{2}\), accounting for 18.2% of non-desertification land in 2020. This indicates that, as a result of the combined effect of the natural environment and human activities, the conversion of the Urat front flag to diverse forms of desertification has occurred on a larger scale and in a good direction. This underlines the fact that the Urat front flag has achieved remarkable results in desertification control under the auspices of the sand control project. To gain a better understanding of the spatial dynamics of desertification in the study area from 2010 to 2020, changes in desertification spatial patterns were classified into five categories (Figure 5 and Table 4): severe deterioration (desertification increased by two or more levels), deterioration (desertification increased to the adjacent level), no change (desertification remained unchanged), restoration (desertification decreased to the adjacent level), and obvious restoration (desertification decreased by two or more levels). Spatial statistics indicate that between 2010 and 2020, the distribution of areas with varying degrees of desertification in the Urat front flag remained stable. No change areas were sparsely distributed, primarily in the west (e.g., Uliang Suhai Fishery in Bayannur City and Xin'an Farm in Bayannur City) and the south (e.g., Baiyanhua Town). Deterioration and severe deterioration areas were mainly concentrated in the central west (e.g., Xishanzui Farm in Bayannur City and Xin'an Farm in Bayannur City) and south. Restoration and obvious restoration areas were mostly situated in the northern (e.g., Shetai Ranch, Sudulun Town, and Bayannur City) and central (e.g., Erdenbrag Sumu and Ming'an Town) areas.