TITLE:
The Potential of Earth Observation Based Indicators to Assess the State of Urban Environment: An Application for the Urban Agglomeration of Athens
AUTHORS:
Constantinos Cartalis, Marina Stathopoulou
KEYWORDS:
Environmental Indicators, Earth Observation, Urban Environment, Environmental Protection
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.4 No.3,
March
14,
2016
ABSTRACT: Earth observation
(EO) provides the opportunity for periodic and spatially detailed assessment of
the state of the environment in urban areas. In this study, the potential of EO
based indicators (EI) to assess the state of environment in the urban
agglomeration of Athens (UAA) is examined. EO based indicators as used in the
study, include land surface temperature, land use, land cover and aerosols
distribution. The indicators are also related to the household density and
population density, as extracted from census data, for the same area.
Indicators are applied at the municipal scale and are also used to estimate an
aggregate environmental indicator (AEI), at municipal scale, by integrating all
indicators mentioned above in a GIS environment. It is found that the urban
agglomeration of Athens is practically “dichotomized”, by being divided in a
western and eastern area, with considerably different environmental conditions.
Results are considered important for focused interventions supporting
environmental urban planning, whereas they represent the high potential of EO
based indicators to monitor and assess the state of the urban environment.