Applying remote sensing and GIS on monitoring and measuring urban sprawl. A case study of China

Abstract

The understanding on urban sprawl in China still rest on qualitative discussion instead of quantitative analysis. There is no clear answer to identify and evaluate the extent of sprawl. The existing methods for measuring urban sprawl are mainly put forward within the context of Western developed countries. To find good ways for analyzing the spatial features and unique mechanism of urban sprawl within Chinese context is very important .On this background, the techniques of Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS) to monitor and measure urban sprawl are described in this paper. The built–up areas were obtained from the Landsat TM classified images of four different periods to monitor the dynamic changes of urban sprawl. Choosing the different indicators and measuring the urban sprawl use these indicators based on GIS, on the basis of the calculation results of comprehensive indicators, the sprawl features of research area were identified.