Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis for Landscape Pattern Characterization - Landscape Ecology for Sustainable Environment and Culture - page 200

11.2 Landscape Pattern Mapping and Quantification
Landscape patterns consist of two components: composition and configuration
(McGarigal and Marks 1995 ). The composition of a landscape refers to the number
and occurrence of different types of landscape elements, which is a nonspatial
measure of the landscape. And the configuration of a landscape refers to the
physical distribution or structural arrangement of landscape elements, which is
spatial by nature as it mainly deals with such an aspect as dimension, shape, or
orientation of landscape elements. Together the spatial configuration and com-
position of landscape elements define the spatial pattern or heterogeneity of
landscapes and play an important role in the ecological functionality and biolog-
ical diversity (McGarigal and McComb 1995 ).
Although landscape elements can be represented as biotopes or habitats, they
are commonly described in a more aggregated way, as land cover classes. Such
land cover categories represent the interface between biophysical conditions and
anthropogenic influences through time. Land cover types can be mapped through
field surveys or remote sensing. The former can achieve an excellent mapping
accuracy, especially for a relatively small geographic area. But this method can
become less efficient when the study area is quite large or poorly accessible.
Remote sensing, through sensors mounted on various aerospace platforms, can
acquire photos or images over the visible, infrared and microwave portions of the
electromagnetic spectrum within a short time period. They can revisit and acquire
data over a specific study site, suitable for monitoring the dynamics of a landscape.
11.2.1 Land Cover Mapping
Critical to the entire landscape pattern analysis is the production of a land cover
map by remote sensing, which relies upon the acquisition of remote sensor data
and the identification of information extraction methods that are appropriate to the
landscape characteristics under investigation (Yang and Lo 2002 ).
11.2.1.1 Remote Sensor Data Acquisition
Over the past several decades, data from various remote sensors have been used
for land cover mapping. Earlier attempts were largely built upon the use of aerial
photography. The acquisition of information on regional, national and global land
cover has been the subject of numerous studies and evaluations since the early
1970s (e.g. Gaydos and Newland 1978 ; Jensen 1981 ; Haack et al. 1987 ; Yang and
Lo 2002 ; Seto and Fragkias 2005 ; Lackner and Conway 2008 ; Bagan et al. 2012 ),
which were largely stimulated by the launch of Earth Resources Technology
Satellite-1 (ERTS-1; later renamed as Landsat) in 1972. Images acquired by the