Assessing ecosystem sustainability and urban boundaries using surface reflectance and emissivity at varying spectral and spatial scales
Petya
K. E.
Campbell, Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET), University of Maryland Baltimore County and NASA/GSFC, petya.campbell@nasa.gov
Kurtis
J.
Thome, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, kurtis.thome@nasa.gov
Elizabeth
M.
Middleton, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, elizabeth.m.middleton@nasa.gov
(Presenting)
With the increase of the population density and the ever expanding conversion of land from rural to urban the urban heat island (UHI) effect has become a problem of critical importance. Land cover type and land surface temperature (LST) in urban and rural areas display significant differences, such as higher LST and lower moisture content, which tend to increase with increasing urbanization. Patterns of LST distribution are closely related to land use and vary with vegetation seasonal cycle.
The combination of high spectral resolution 400-2500 nm and thermal infrared imagery of the planned by NASA HyspIRI mission will provide a powerful capability for more precise land cover type discrimination and ecosystem monitoring than possible using current satellite systems, such as land cover type mapping, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem identification, vegetation/soil nutrient and moisture content determinations and assessment of the vegetation function and health.
In preparation for HyspIRI data use, and to contribute toward the development of the mission’s concepts, this study will assemble existing data sets covering both rural and urban environments from AVIRIS, MASTER, EO-1 Hyperion and ASTER with the goals: 1) to generate HyspIRI-like data sets; 2) delineate urban and rural ecosystems, and characterize the ecosystems biodiversity composition and functional groups; 3) determine the relationship between spectral and thermal properties of urban and rural ecosystems and of individual functional types within an ecosystem; and 4) assess the bio-physical properties and health of the vegetation cover and the sustainability of the ecosystems.
To provide confirmation for the findings, data sets for two independent locations with different regional climate, ecosystem types and functional groups will be compared. The results from the HyspIRI-like data (60 m spatial resolution) will be compared to data sets having 30 and 90 m spatial scales.
By fusion of spectroscopy and thermal remote sensing this study will assess the potential of HyspIRI-like data for delineating and monitoring UHI, discriminating natural versus urban ecosystems, and assessing ecosystems diversity, health and sustainability.
Presentation Type: Poster
Poster Session: Ecosystems Science
NASA TE Funded Awards Represented:
NONE: Related Activity or Previously Funded TE Award