Landscape Structure is an Integrated Measure of Earth System Response to Climate Change*AbstractLandscape structure is the result of complicated interactions between climate, topography and human land use. To separate these interactions requires both a source of landscape structure data (typically remote sensing) and ancillary data sets representing those casual factors. Highly reduced, one band images derived from the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer were used for the analysis of landscape structure at over one hundred locations in the contiguous United States. Landscape metrics were calculated for both the raw, gray level image as well as a classified product representing roughly defined vegetation, soil and mixed classes. These metrics included the number and size of patches, landscape contagion, average patch shape and perimeter to area ratio, average fractal dimension of patch shape, two texture measures, and an estimate of the scale using autocorrelation. Ancillary data sets derived from free, publicly available data sources were used to create coverages of land use and topography for comparison to the quicklook. Climate data (mean monthly temperature and precipitation) and estimates of available soil water capacity were used to calculate average annual climate water balance diagrams for each site. Correlation analysis between the landscape structure metrics and the ancillary variables indicated the climate has a strong influence on the landscape structure, but is mediated by the influence of land use and topography at some sites.Publications:Presentations:Other Documents:*This research supported by a Earth System Science Fellowship granted
by NASA's Mission to Planet Earth Program, 1995-GlobalCh00404
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