Image Processing Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 1
Urban and Suburban Areas as a Research
Topic for Remote Sensing
Maik Netzband and Carsten Jürgens
This chapter provides an introduction into the topic's theme, its relevance for the
scientific community as well as for instructors and practitioners. It tries to give an
umbrella for the topics that have been chosen to bridge the gap between remote sens-
ing and urban studies through a better understanding of the science that underlies
both fields. In so doing, in the second half this first chapter introduces the following
16 chapters written by leading international experts in respected fields to provide a
balanced coverage of fundamental issues in both remote sensing and urban studies.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this chapter, the student should gain an
understanding of:
Overview of urbanization research issues
Introduction to recent developments in Urban Remote Sensing
1.1
Introduction
Starting the theme of research on urban and suburban areas, a recently taken aerial
photograph in bird's eye perspective is illustrated. Figure
1.1
pictures a recent
suburban development in the City of Rio Vista, California.
As a prosperous plan, 750 houses should be developed here once - most strik-
ingly, these plans originate from a time, when still nobody suspected, what the term
“largest economic crisis since 80 years” meant. And in such a way on 20 November
2008, thus few weeks after the collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers, the
M. Netzband (
*
) and C. Jürgens
Geography Department, Ruhr-University, Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150,
44801 Bochum, Germany
e-mails: maik.netzband@rub.de; carsten.jürgens@rub.de
