Advanced Remote Sensing For Urban And Landscape Ecology

This book introduces the use of various remote sensing data such as microwave, hyperspectral and very high-resolution (VHR) satellite imagery; mapping techniques including pixel and object-based machine learning; and geostatistical modelling techniques including cellular automation, entropy and land fragmentation. Remote sensing plays a vital role in solving urban and environmental challenges at the landscape level. Globally, more than half of the urban population is facing severe environmental and social challenges, especially those relating to climate change, agricultural land encroachment, green infrastructure and environmental degradation, mobility due to rapid rural–urban transformation and anthropogenic interventions. Mapping and quantification of such threats at the landscape level are challenging for experts using traditional techniques; however, remote sensing technology provides diverse spatial data at a varying scale, volume and accessibility for mapping and modelling, and it also analyses challenges at urban and landscape levels. Together, they address challenges at urban and landscape levels to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This book introduces the use of various remote sensing data such as microwave, hyperspectral and very high-resolution (VHR) satellite imagery; mapping techniques including pixel and object-based machine learning; and geostatistical modelling techniques including cellular automation, entropy and land fragmentation. Remote sensing plays a vital role in solving urban and environmental challenges at the landscape level. Globally, more than half of the urban population is facing severe environmental and social challenges, especially those relating to climate change, agricultural land encroachment, green infrastructure and environmental degradation, mobility due to rapid rural–urban transformation and anthropogenic interventions. Mapping and quantification of such threats at the landscape level are challenging for experts using traditional techniques; however, remote sensing technology provides diverse spatial data at a varying scale, volume and accessibility for mapping and modelling, and it also analyses challenges at urban and landscape levels. Together, they address challenges at urban and landscape levels to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This book provides the practical basis for the use of remote sensing to accomplish landscape ecological projects, through the merging of theory and practice, with examples. This is a specialized application and both these topics have evolved rapidly in the past decade. This evolution is not in the previous edition, and indeed this update provides much new information and valuable ideas for the professional and assist in directing the training of new personnel. The new edition will feature a combination of landscape ecology metrics, quantitative field measurements, and geospatial analyses.

This book provides the practical basis for the use of remote sensing to accomplish landscape ecological projects, through the merging of theory and practice, with examples. This is a specialized application and both these topics have evolved rapidly in the past decade. This evolution is not in the previous edition, and indeed this update provides much new information and valuable ideas for the professional and assist in directing the training of new personnel. The new edition will feature a combination of landscape ecology metrics, quantitative field measurements, and geospatial analyses.

The landscape we see and live in is an important part or our everyday lives, be they urban or rural. Environmental concern has grown in recent years, as a result of public awareness of the detrimental impact industry, transport and tourism can have on the ecosystem. This book examines the role of the new technologies of geographical information sys

Landscape ecology is a rapidly growing science of quantifying the ways in which ecosystems interact - of establishing a link between activities in one region and repercussions in another region. Remote sensing is a fast, inexpensive tool for conducting the landscape inventories that are essential to this branch of science. However, anyone who has conducted studies in the field has already found that traditional landscape ecology metrics are not always reliable with remote images. Landscape Ecology: New Metric Indicators for Monitoring, Modeling, and Assessment of Ecosystems with Remote Sensing presents a new set of metrics that allows remotely sensed data to be used effectively in landscape ecology. This groundbreaking new work is the first to present new metrics for remote sensing of landscapes and demonstrate how they can be used to yield more accurate analyses for GIS studies. The new metrics expand the capabilities of GIS, reduce interference and incorrect readings, help ecologists better understand ecosystem relationships, and reduce study costs. This set of metrics should be adopted by the EPA and will be the standard measure for future landscape analysis. This authoritative guide assesses the current state of the field and how remote sensing and landscape metrics have been used to date. It also explains how some of the traditional metrics were developed and how they can fail in landscape studies. Once this background has been established, the new metrics are introduced and their benefits and uses explained. The information in this book has previously been available only in scattered journal articles; this is the first single source for complete background information and instructions on using the new metrics.

The rapid urban expansion and associated land cover conversions in the last two decades call for an urgent need for developing advanced analytical and quantitative methods to manage the adverse impacts on urban ecology and climate. The lower landscape connectivity, higher land cover fragmentation and increase in higher surface temperatures in urban areas are largely a consequence of surface energy balance alteration triggered by the replacement of natural land covers like green spaces, wetlands with built areas, and impervious surfaces. These spatial-temporal variability changes have detrimental and significant impacts on the local and regional urban climate challenges that require both new Geospatial Analytic approaches and new sources of data and information. Emerging Geospatial technologies (Big Data, Cloud Computing, Google Earth Engines, Advanced Machine Learning Algorithms and Deep learning) offer great opportunities to acquire ubiquitous spatial data, continuous observations, and monitoring of the earth’s surface, detect the spatiotemporal patterns of changes in the landscape and urban climate and make predictions and scenarios for future urban ecology and surface temperature trends.

Compared with traditional remote sensing technologies, airborne Lidar data can provide researchers with additional 3D positional information, which is a key factor for advanced urban research, and particularly that of urban landscape ecology. Therefore, the need for applying Lidar data to a variety of disciplines is rapidly growing. However, the lack of remote sensing background makes the wider use of Lidar data highly difficult for scholars from other disciplines. In contrast to the majority of Lidar-related books that focus on sophisticated principles and general applications of Lidar data, this book provides the reader with a feasible framework for applying airborne Lidar data to urban research. In addition to providing a general introduction to the subject, this book explains in detail a series of case studies to demonstrate how these theoretical models can be employed to address practical urban issues. As such, this book not only provides Lidar scholars with a series of specifically designed research methods, but will also serve to inspire scholars from other disciplines, such as geographers, urban planners, ecologists, and decision-makers, with a complete framework of potential application fields.