Vegetation cover indexes in urban areas: Landscape Ecology studies with Sentinel2 images

Abstract

The paper defends the importance of access to data, as Copernicus Project that allows the use Sentinel satellite images to map land use. It puts emphasis in vegetation cover, using metrics of Landscape Ecology, mainly the edge effect, to measure the relation between built and green landscape in urban areas. Develops case studies in European cities and criticizes the rankings that don’t consider specific local conditions. It points out the possibilities of using some metrics based on Landscape Ecology to analyze the balance between built and green landscapes, as a support to propose new urban indexes, with relative values according to local characteristics.