Linking Spatial Pattern and Biophysical Parameters of Urban Vegetation by Multitemporal Landsat Imagery

Rapid urbanization has profoundly transformed the urban vegetation structure and its biophysical condition throughout the world. This research examined the spatial pattern and temporal dynamic of different vegetation types in relation to two biophysical parameters of urban vegetation, the leaf area index and fraction of photosynthetically active radiation, through remote sensing techniques in the Baltimore-Washington corridor area from 1990 to 2010. The results show that the productivity of urban vegetation was affected by the urbanization and the associated fragmentation processes. These results help us track the vegetation changes caused by urbanization and anthropogenic land surface change.