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40-Year (1978-2017) human settlement changes in China reflected by impervious surfaces from satellite remote sensing
Peng Gong1, Xuecao Li2, Wei Zhang3
1Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Earth System Modeling, Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; Tsinghua Urban Institute, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; Center for Healthy Cities, Institute for China Sustainable Urbanization, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
Science Bulletin
|January 20, 2023
Summary
China
Area of Science:
- Environmental science
- Remote sensing
- Urban studies
Background:
- Impervious surfaces are key indicators of human settlements.
- Rapid urbanization in China has led to significant growth in impervious areas.
- High-resolution, annual impervious surface data for China are lacking for the past 40 years.
Purpose of the Study:
- To address the data gap by creating annual impervious surface maps for China.
- To provide high-spatial-detail data from 1978 and 1985-2017.
- To enable comprehensive analysis of impervious surface dynamics.
Main Methods:
- Utilized previously developed impervious surface mapping algorithms.
- Leveraged the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform for large-scale data processing.
- Mapped impervious surfaces at 60-m resolution for 1978 and 30-m resolution annually from 1985-2017.
Main Results:
- Generated continuous impervious surface data for China from 1978 to 2017.
- Achieved over 90% accuracy for the 30-m resolution data.
- Demonstrated that China's impervious surface growth rate significantly exceeds that of developed nations.
Conclusions:
- The 40-year dataset provides crucial insights into China's urbanization.
- This data is valuable for researchers and policymakers studying urban development and environmental impacts.
- The impervious surface data is openly accessible for download.
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