Remote Sensing Satellite and In-Situ Monitoring Data for Analysis of Urbanization Effects on Vegetation
Zoran, Maria¹; Savastru, Roxana¹; Savastru, Dan^2
1National Institute of R&D for Optoelectronics, ROMANIA; ²National Institute of RD for Optoelectronics, ROMANIA

Due to significant anthropogenic changes that have occurred in the last several decades in Bucharest city's landscape, urbanization has become an important factor affecting urban surface parameters, hence in the surface-atmosphere interaction processes, with a great potential to alter the local climate. Land use and land cover (LULC) influence a variety of processes important in characterizing urban /periurban biophysical parameters' quality, including aerosol deposition rates, biogenic emissions, albedo, surface temperatures, climatic parameters and other. Analysis of surface biophysical parameters changes in urban/periurban areas of Bucharest town based on multi-spectral and multi-temporal satellite imagery (MODIS, Landsat TM, ETM and IKONOS) provides the most reliable technique of environmental monitoring regarding the net radiation and heat fluxes associated with urbanization at the regional scale. Investigation of radiation properties, energy balance and heat fluxes is based on information derived from various satellite sensors and in-situ monitoring data, linked to numerical models and quantitative biophysical information extracted from spatially distributed NDVI-data and net radiation. For detailed land cover classifications in a digital form is possible to analyze in a statistical way these properties. Have been derived surface biophysical parameters such as fractional vegetation cover (Fr), surface radiant temperature (Ts) and albedo for 1990 - 2012 period for Bucharest metropolitan zone and its periurban areas. These changes have been then, examined in association with climatic effects of land cover changes to illustrate how these parameters respond to rapid urban expansion in Bucharest and surrounding region. This study attempts to provide environmental awareness to urban planners suggesting that future changes in urban land cover could substantially affect climate and human health by altering biophysical land–atmosphere interactions.The local and regional climate response is of a similar magnitude to that projected for future greenhouse gas concentrations, climatic effects of land cover change should be carefully considered by urban decision makers for managing anthropogenic forcing of the climate system and human health protective measures through increasing urban green.