A New Remote Sensing Index for Assessing Spatial Heterogeneity in Urban Ecoenvironmental-Quality-Associated Road Networks

Xincheng Zheng, Zeyao Zou, Chongmin Xu, Sen Lin, Zhilong Wu, Rongzu Qiu, Xisheng Hu and Jian Li
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Xincheng Zheng: College of Transportation and Civil Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350108, China
Zeyao Zou: College of Transportation and Civil Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350108, China
Chongmin Xu: College of Transportation and Civil Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350108, China
Sen Lin: College of Transportation and Civil Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350108, China
Zhilong Wu: College of Transportation and Civil Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350108, China
Rongzu Qiu: College of Transportation and Civil Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350108, China
Xisheng Hu: College of Transportation and Civil Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350108, China
Jian Li: College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China

Land, 2021, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Although many prior efforts found that road networks significantly affect landscape fragmentation, the spatially heterogeneous effects of road networks on urban ecoenvironments remain poorly understood. A new remote-sensing-based ecological index (RSEI) is proposed to calculate the ecoenvironmental quality, and a local model (geographically weighted regression, GWR) was applied to explore the spatial variations in the relationship between kernel density of roads (KDR) and ecoenvironmental quality and understand the coupling mechanism of road networks and ecoenvironments. The average effect of KDR on the variables of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), land surface moisture (LSM), and RSEI was negative, while it was positively associated with the soil index (SI), normalized differential build-up and bare soil index (NDBSI), index-based built-up index (IBI), and land surface temperature (LST). This study shows that rivers and the landscape pattern along rivers exacerbate the impact of road networks on urban ecoenvironments. Moreover, spatial variation in the relationship between road network and ecoenvironment is mainly controlled by the relationship of the road network with vegetation and bare soil. This research can help in better understanding the diversified relationships between road networks and ecoenvironments and offers guidance for urban planners to avoid or mitigate the negative impacts of roads on urban ecoenvironments.

Keywords: remote-sensing-based ecological index; geographically weighted regression; kernel density; road network; ecoenvironmental system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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