Novel shape indices for vector landscape pattern analysis

Zhang, Ce and Atkinson, Peter Michael (2016) Novel shape indices for vector landscape pattern analysis. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 30 (12). pp. 2442-2461. ISSN 1365-8816

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Abstract

The formation of an anisotropic landscape is influenced by natural and/or human processes, which can then be inferred on the basis of geometric indices. In this study, two minimal bounding rectangles in consideration of the principles of mechanics (i.e. minimal width bounding (MWB) box and moment bounding (MB) box) were introduced. Based on these boxes, four novel shape indices, namely MBLW (the length-to-width ratio of MB box), PAMBA (area ratio between patch and MB box), PPMBP (perimeter ratio between patch and MB box) and ODI (orientation difference index between MB and MWB boxes), were introduced to capture multiple aspects of landscape features including patch elongation, patch compactness, patch roughness and patch symmetry. Landscape pattern was, thus, quantified by considering both patch directionality and patch shape simultaneously, which is especially suitable for anisotropic landscape analysis. The effectiveness of the new indices were tested with real landscape data consisting of three kinds of saline soil patches (i.e. the elongated shaped slightly saline soil class, the circular or half-moon shaped moderately saline soil, and the large and complex severely saline soil patches). The resulting classification was found to be more accurate and robust than that based on traditional shape complexity indices.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
International Journal of Geographical Information Science
Additional Information:
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Geographical Information Science on 27/04/2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13658816.2016.1179313
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3309
Subjects:
?? landscape metricsanisotropymoment boxpatch elongationpatch symmetrylibrary and information sciencesinformation systemsgeography, planning and development ??
ID Code:
79403
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
09 May 2016 10:06
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
13 Mar 2024 01:12