Global Analyses of Urban Reflectance


Comparative Spectral Mixture Analysis of 28 cities using Landsat 7 shows consistent spectral

endmembers and predominantly linear mixing but interurban and intraurban variability in mixed

reflectances is comparable. The most consistent characteristic of urban reflectance, at moderate

spatial resolution, is spectral heterogeneity.  Details available in: 

Small, C., Global Analysis of Urban Reflectance, International Journal of Remote Sensing, v.26, n.4, p.661-681, 2005.

Small, C., The Color of Cities: An Overview of Urban Spectral Diversity , Global Mapping of Human Settlement, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis LLC, ISBN: 978-1-4200-8339-2, 2009.

 

Autocorrelation analyses of 1 m Ikonos panchromatic imagery in 14 cities quantify characteristic

spatial scales of urban mosaics. Comparative spectral mixture analyses show stronger linear mixing

and consistent spectral endmembers with moderate resolution Landsat mixture analyses.  Details in:

Small, C., High Resolution Spectral Mixture Analysis of Urban Reflectance, Remote Sensing of Environment, v. 88, p.170-186, 2003.

 

Comparative analysis of Landsat 7 surface temperature and spectral endmember fractions

for 24 cities shows consistent relationships between surface temperature and vegetation

fraction and bidirectional variation of surface temperature with substrate fractions.  Details in:

Small, C. Comparative Analysis of Urban Reflectance and Surface Temperature, Remote Sensing of Environment, In Press 2006.

 

Global spatial analysis of 1992/93, 1994/95 and 2000 DMSP night lights

suggests consistent scaling across a wide range of city sizes.  Comparison

with Landsat 7 imagery in 17 cities worldwide quantifies spatial extent of

overglow and no consistency in frequency detection threshold area reduction.

Comparison with island periphery overglow suggests a quasilinear relationship

between illuminated area and lateral extent of overglow.  Details in:

Small, C., F. Pozzi and C. Elvidge, Spatial Analysis of Global Urban Extent fromDMSP-OLS Night Lights,Remote Sensing of Environment, 2005.