A suite of novel EO-based products in support of urban green planning

Abstract

The strategic implementation of green infrastructures can sensibly help facing the effects of climate change in urban areas by reducing high temperatures, decreasing stormwater runoff, saving energy, improving air quality and increasing biodiversity. In this framework, the benefits of green roofs and urban trees are many and well documented in several recent studies, hence their monitoring is of high use for urban planners to properly design effective adaptation and mitigation strategies. Nevertheless, such activities have been so far solely carried out by means of in situ surveys or photointerpretation of very high resolution airborne imagery, thus being very costly both in terms of money and time. To overcome this drawback, we implemented two novel techniques aimed at automatically identifying current and potential green roofs, as well as mapping tree location and canopy, respectively. In particular, this is carried out by jointly exploiting satellite/airborne color infrared remote sensing imagery and LiDAR height data. Experimental results obtained for Antwerp, Milan, the Helsinki Capital Region, and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea assess the effectiveness and potential of the proposed techniques.