Built-up area analysis using Sentinel data in metropolitan areas of Transylvania, Romania

Abstract

The anthropic and natural elements have become more closely monitored and analysed through the use of remote sensing and GIS applications. In this regard, the study aims to feature a different approach to produce more and more thematic information, focusing on the development of built-up areas. In this paper, multispectral images and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images were the basis of a wide range of proximity analyses. These allow the extraction of data about the distribution of built-up space on the areas with potential for economic and social development. Application of interferometric coherence and supervised classifications have been accomplished on various territories, such as metropolitan areas of the most developed region of Romania, more specifically Transylvania. The results indicate accuracy values, which can reach 94 per cent for multispectral datasets and 93 per cent for SAR datasets. The accuracy of resulted data will reveal a variety of city patterns, depending mainly on local features regarding natural and administrative environments. In this way, a comparison will be made between the accuracy of both datasets to provide an analysis of the manner of built-up areas distribution to assess the expansion of the studied metropolitan areas. Therefore, this study aims to apply well-established methods from the remote sensing field to enhance the information and datasets in some areas lacking recent research.