Abstract
The use of remote sensing techniques and subsequent analysis by means of geographical information system (GIS) offers an effective method for monitoring temporal and spatial changes of landscapes. This work studies the urbanization processes and associated threats to natural ecosystems and resources in the metropolitan areas of Berlin and Erlangen-Furth-Nurnber Schwabach (EFNS). To compute the land use/cover (LULC) of the study areas, a supervised classification of “maximum likelihood” using Landsat data for the years of 1972, 1985, 1998, 2003, and 2015 is used. Results show that the built-up area is the dominant land use in both regions throughout the study period. This land use has increased at the expense of green and open areas in EFNS and at the expense of agricultural land in Berlin. Likewise, 5% of forest in EFNS is replaced with urban infrastructure. However, the amount of forest in Berlin increased by 3%. While EFNS experienced relatively big changes in its water bodies from 1972 to 1985, changes in water bodies in Berlin were rather slight during the last 40 years. The overall accuracy of our remotely sensed LULC maps was between 88% and 94% in Berlin and between 85.87% and 87.4% for EFNS. The combination of remote sensing and GIS appears to be an indispensable tool for monitoring changes in LULC in urban areas and help improving LU planning to avoid environmental and ecological problems.
Highlights
LULC change is a major issue of global environment change
The main purpose of the present study is to examine the possibilities of using remote sensing data to analyze the nature and extent the LULC changes in the metropolitan city of Berlin and the metropolitan region of Nürnberg-Fürth-Erlangen-Schwabach in the past 40 years
More than half of the metropolitan city of Berlin were occupied with the built-up class, mainly located in the center of the city
Summary
LU refers to man’s activities and the varied uses carried on, such as natural vegetation, water bodies, rock, soil and artificial covers. Land cover (LC) is defined as the assemblage of biotic and abiotic components on the earth’s surface is one of the most crucial properties of the earth system. LC is that which covers the surface of the earth and land use (LU) describes how the LC is modified. The LC reflects the biophysical state of the earth’s surface and immediate subsurface, embracing the soil material, vegetation and water. Changes may involve the nature or intensity of change but may include spatial and temporal aspects [1]. LULC changes directly and indirectly involve the modification of natural habitats and their impact on the ecology of the area
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