Abstract
Knowledge of impervious surface areas (ISA) and on their changes in magnitude, location, geometry and morphology over time is significant for a range of practical applications and research alike from local to global scales. Despite this, use of Earth Observation (EO) technology in mapping ISAs within some European Union (EU) countries, such as the United Kingdom (UK), is to some extent scarce. In the present study, a combination of methods is proposed for mapping ISA based on freely distributed EO imagery from Landsat TM/ETM+ sensors. The proposed technique combines a traditional classifier and a linear spectral mixture analysis (LSMA) with a series of Landsat TM/ETM+ images to extract ISA. Selected sites located in Wales, UK, are used for demonstrating the capability of the proposed method. The Welsh study areas provided a unique setting in detecting largely dispersed urban morphology within an urban-rural frontier context. In addition, an innovative method for detecting clouds and cloud shadow layers for the full area estimation of ISA is also presented herein. The removal and replacement of clouds and cloud shadows, with underlying materials is further explained. Aerial photography with a spatial resolution of 0.4 m, acquired over the summer period in 2005 was used for validation purposes. Validation of the derived products indicated an overall ISA detection accuracy in the order of ~97%. The latter was considered as very satisfactory and at least comparative, if not somehow better, to existing ISA products provided on a national level. The hybrid method for ISA extraction proposed here is important on a local scale in terms of moving forward into a biennial program for the Welsh Government. It offers a much less subjectively static and more objectively dynamic estimation of ISA cover in comparison to existing operational products already available, improving the current estimations of international urbanization and soil sealing. Findings of our study provide important assistance towards the development of relevant EO-based products not only inaugurate to Wales alone, but potentially allowing a cost-effective and consistent long term monitoring of ISA at different scales based on EO technology.
Highlights
In 2011, it was recorded that around half of the World’s population (~3.5 billion people) were living in urban environments [1]
Findings of our study provide important assistance towards the development of relevant Earth Observation (EO)-based products inaugurate to Wales alone, but potentially allowing a cost-effective and consistent long term monitoring of impervious surface areas (ISA) at different scales based on EO technology
A large fraction of ISA’s are distributed within the city centres and satellite industrial areas; medium fractions of ISA’s are distributed amongst the residential areas of towns and cities within the all study area; and agricultural areas that were not masked by Parts I or II, have an extremely low fraction of ISA
Summary
In 2011, it was recorded that around half of the World’s population (~3.5 billion people) were living in urban environments [1]. Impacts of this growth and urban expansion over the last century have been the loss of fertile and otherwise green-space to concrete for ever increasing areas of housing and infrastructure. The quantifiable amount of these impervious surface areas (ISA) is considered extremely important in a context of monitoring climate change. Have requested information on ISA figures, from all members states, to be included amongst other significant land use categories for submission into the Greenhouse Gas Inventory for the years. As a result of this, the EU demands accurate figures for feeding in to the Greenhouse
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