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Spatial relationship of Remote Sensing Ecological Indicator (RSEI) and landscape metrics under urban development intensification

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Abstract

In recent years, environmental issues such as global warming and climate change have led to an increased focus on finding solutions to reduce its impacts, especially in urban areas. Remote sensing data have become an increasingly popular tool for conducting environmental assessment studies. The objective of this study was to assess and analyze the ecological environmental quality of Karaj County using Landsat satellite imagery of 2010 and 2020. In addition, the spatial pattern of landscape metrics has been quantified to assess the spatial pattern of green spaces. The greenness, moisture, dryness, and heat indicators were combined into a comprehensive RSEI index. The importance of the sub-indicators was determined using principal component analysis and weighted to obtain the RSEI index, which consists of the components LST, NDVI, NDBI, and wetness. The results indicate that the overall quality of the ecological environment in Karaj district has decreased, with the mean RSEI decreasing from 0.59 to 0.25. Landscape characteristics of the ecological environment have changed to a more separated, incoherent, and irregular pattern. Specifically, RSEI values had a significant correlation with landscape pattern change. The value of the COHESION metric has decreased and the value of the Edge Density has increased, which indicates the separation of the green space in the study area. These results could be valuable information for decision makers in managing or achieving an optimal eco-environment landscape pattern in urbanized areas.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the University of Mohaghegh Ardabili for the logistical supports who significantly contributed during the research works.

Funding

The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environment, Faculty of Natural Resources, Malayer University, Malayer, Iran

    Nazanin Naseri

  2. Department of Natural Resources and Water Management Research Center, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabili, Iran

    Raoof Mostafazadeh

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  1. Nazanin Naseri
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  2. Raoof Mostafazadeh
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Nazanin Naseri, and Raoof Mostafazadeh. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Nazanin Naseri and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Raoof Mostafazadeh.

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Communicated by: Gregorio Milani

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Naseri, N., Mostafazadeh, R. Spatial relationship of Remote Sensing Ecological Indicator (RSEI) and landscape metrics under urban development intensification. Earth Sci Inform 16, 3797–3810 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12145-023-01119-z

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