Landscape metrics for analysing urbanization-induced land use and land cover changes

The objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of landscape metrics in quantifying the urbanization-induced land use and land cover (LULC) changes from a landscape ecology perspective using the City of Indianapolis, Indiana, USA as a case study. Two Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) images, acquired on 3 October 2000 and 13 October 2006, respectively, and two Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper images, acquired on 22 October 1989 and 20 October 2000, respectively, were used for the study. Seven LULC types were identified: urban, agriculture, grasslands, forest, water, barren lands and wetlands. A series of landscape metrics were then computed for each LULC type and these metrics were used to compare the two ASTER-derived LULC maps with the two Landsat-derived maps. Results show that urbanization contributed significantly to LULC changes in the study area. Agricultural lands decreased and forests became more disaggregated. Grassland increased slightly in size and aggregation level and improved in connectedness.