Urban land cover changes assessment from satellite remote sensing data

Remote sensing is a key application in global-change science, being very useful for urban climatology and land use/land cover dynamics and morphology analysis. Multi-spectral and multi-temporal satellite imagery (LANDSAT TM, ETM, IKONOS) provide the most reliable technique of monitoring of different urban structures regarding the net radiation and heat fluxes associated with urbanization at the regional scale. Multiple Endmember Spectral Mixture Analysis (MESMA) technique was used to map the physical components of urban land cover for the city of Constantza, Romania, using Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM), Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) and IKONOS imagery during period of 1989 and 2007 years. The main objectives of this investigation targeted: to develop and validate new techniques for mapping and monitoring land cover and land use within and around Constantza urban area using satellite sensed images and new digital framework data; to analyze the spatial pattern of land cover and the detailed morphology of urban land use across the study area, and quantify the structure of land use parcels; to devise a methodology for updating of digital urban land-use maps ; to develop an improved information base on urban land-cover and land-use change for land-use/transportation models, urban development planning, urban ecology and local plans.