Spatial Analysis of Urban Growth Impacts on Vegetative Greenness with Landsat TM Data

Abstract Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) data have been used to monitor land cover types and to estimate biophysical parameters. However, studies examining the spatial relationships between land cover change and biophysical parameters are generally lacking. With the integration of remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), these relationships can be better explored. The research reported in this paper applies this integrated approach for detecting urban growth and assessing its impact on vegetative greenness in the Zhujiang Delta, China. Multi‐temporal Landsat TM data were utilized to map urban growth and to extract and identify changes in vegetative greenness. GIS analyses were conducted to examine the changing spatial patterns of urban growth and greenness change. Statistical analyses were then used to examine the impact of urban growth on vegetative greenness. The results revealed that there was a notably uneven urban growth pattern in the delta, and urban development had reduced the scaled Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) value by 30% in the urbanized area.