STANFORD UNIVERSITY
EE 350 RADIOSCIENCE SEMINAR
Professor Howard Zebker
Fall 2001-2002
Date: Wednesday, October 24, 2001
Time: 4:15 PM; Refreshments at 4:00 PM
Location: 460-334
Monitoring urban growth in the Pearl River Delta
using Landsat TM
Dr. Karen Seto
Center for Environmental Science and Policy,
Institute for International Studies,
Stanford University
Abstract
The Pearl River Delta in the People's Republic of China is experiencing unprecedented rates of
economic growth and urban expansion. To analyze these land-use changes, nine Landsat Thematic
Mapper images from 1988 to 1996 are used to evaluate two urban growth algorithms. The first
technique uses change vectors of Tasseled Cap brightness, greenness, and wetness combined with
Tasseled Cap values from the initial date of imagery to map four stable classes and two urban
growth classes. The second method uses a multi-date normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)
to identify areas of urban growth and reduced agricultural productivity. Results from both
techniques indicate that urban areas have increased by more than 300% between 1988 and 1996, most
of which was converted from agricultural land