Multi-scale analysis of urban wetland changes using satellite remote sensing techniques

This study investigates urban wetland-cover changes in the Kansas City metropolitan area with analyses at various spatial and temporal scales. Not many studies fully addressed multi-scale urban wetland-cover dynamics in both the temporal and spatial dimension. The objective was to understand how major driving factors - human disturbances and climate variation - impacted urban wetlands as determined by the scale effects of observing land-cover changes. To address this objective, multi-year and multi-season SPOT satellite images were acquired and digitally classified to generate wetland and related land-cover data over various temporal ranges. To detect long term changes of urban wetland, the study examined the landscape changes between 1992 and 2008. Furthermore, for a short term analysis over a period between 2008 and 2010, the study analyzed seasonal land-cover variation among the autumn, spring, and summer. These multi-temporal land-cover data were analyzed at various spatial scales - the metropolitan region, watersheds, sub-watersheds, specific wetland areas, and particular urban development zones. The results show that over the 16-year period, both wetland and impervious surfaces gained in area at the metropolitan level. However, the wetland change patterns were varied at other spatial scales of analysis, which were related to the dominant site-specific development activities. Further, the wetland change patterns differed if large surface water bodies (> 8ha) were excluded from the class of wetlands. The study also revealed that the seasonal change patterns of urban wetlands were likely correlated with short term precipitation conditions; but this effect may be varied depending on sampling area sizes. The study suggests that the effects of spatial and temporal scales should be considered in remote sensing detection of urban wetlands as they influence the interpretation of remotely sensed land-cover changes and correlation of driving factors. In conclusion, understanding the complex human-climate coupling factors affecting urban wetland-cover requires a multi-scale and multi-faceted analysis.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Geosciences (UMKC)

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Missouri--Kansas City

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Murambadoro, Dzingirai

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Ji, Wei, 1955-

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10355/12444

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mospace.umsystem.edu:10355/12444