ABSTRACT
CONTENTS 7.1 Introduction ............................................................................................... 120
7.1.1 Classifying Land Cover and Land Use..................................... 120 7.1.2 Defining Dimensionality.............................................................. 121 7.1.3 Scale................................................................................................. 122 7.1.4 Fractal Dimension of the Urban Environment ........................ 122 7.1.5 Calculating Fractal Dimension ................................................... 123
7.1.5.1 Overview......................................................................... 123 7.1.5.2 Walking Divider and Isarithm .................................... 124 7.1.5.3 Box-Counting Dimensions ........................................... 124 7.1.5.4 Triangular Prism............................................................ 125 7.1.5.5 Area-Perimeter Relationship ....................................... 126 7.1.5.6 Fractional Brownian Motion
and the Variogram Method ......................................... 126 7.1.5.7 Power Spectrum............................................................. 126
7.1.6 Issues in Calculating Fractal Dimension................................... 127 7.2 Methods and Materials ............................................................................ 128
7.2.1 Imagery........................................................................................... 128 7.2.2 Preprocessing................................................................................. 128 7.2.3 Calculating Fractal Dimension ................................................... 129
7.2.3.1 Overview of Algorithm ................................................ 129 7.2.3.2 Window Size................................................................... 129 7.2.3.3 Multiband Modification................................................ 129 7.2.3.4 Pixel Size-Digital Number Ratio................................. 130
7.2.4 Assessment..................................................................................... 130 7.2.4.1 Overview......................................................................... 130 7.2.4.2 Separating Cover Types................................................ 130 7.2.4.3 Evaluation with SAS Software..................................... 131 7.2.4.4 Visual Assessment ......................................................... 132
7.3 Results......................................................................................................... 132 7.3.1 Overview........................................................................................ 132 7.3.2 Statistical Evaluation of Fractal Dimension.............................. 133 7.3.3 Visual Assessment ........................................................................ 134
7.4 Discussion .................................................................................................. 137 7.4.1 Statistical Evaluation of Fractal Dimension.............................. 137 7.4.2 Visual Assessment ........................................................................ 138
7.5 Conclusions................................................................................................ 138 References ........................................................................................................... 139
This chapter considers the utility of fractal analysis in separating different types of impervious land cover with a focus on roofs, roads, and driveways in suburban imagery.
