Mapping global impervious surface area and green space within urban environments

The mapping of impervious surface area(ISA) and urban green space(UGS) is essential for improving the urban environmental quality toward ecological, livable, and sustainable goals. Currently, accurate ISA and UGS products are lacking in urban areas at the global scale. This study established regression models that estimated the fraction of ISA/UGS in global 30 cities for validation using MODIS NDVI and DMSP/OLS nighttime light imageries. A global dataset of ISA and UGS fraction with a spatial resolution of 250 m×250 m was developed using the regression model, with a mean relative error of 0.19 for its ISA. The results showed the global urban area of 76.29×10~4 km~2, which was primarily distributed in central Europe, eastern Asia,and central and eastern North America. The urban land area in North America, Europe, and Asia was 66.3×10~4 km~2, accounting for 86.91% of the world's urban area; the urban land area of the top 50 countries accounted for 59.32% of the total urban land area in the world. The global ISA of 45.26×10~4 km~2 was mainly distributed in central and southern North America, eastern Asia, and Europe, as well as coastal regions around the world. The proportion of ISA situated in built-up areas on the continental scale followed the order of Africa(70%)South AmericaOceaniaAsia(60%)North AmericaEurope(50%), and these areas were mostly in southeastern North America, southwestern Europe, and eastern and western Asia. North America, Europe, and Asia accounted for 89.44% of the world's total UGS. The cities of developed countries in Europe and North America exposed a dramatic mosaic of ISA and UGS composites in urban construction. Therefore, the proportion of UGS is relatively high in those cities. However, in developing and underdeveloped countries, the proportion of UGS in built-up areas is relatively low, and urban environments need to be improved for livability.     

全球城市人居环境不透水面与绿地空间特征制图

全球城市不透水面和绿地空间遥感制图对于准确把握全球人居环境质量,指导城市和区域发展规划,促使城市向生态、宜居和可持续方向发展具有重要的科学意义和应用价值.当前研究中针对全球城市下垫面覆盖状况不透水面与绿地空间要素的高精度遥感制图仍显不足.本研究基于城市等级尺度地表结构和景观分类原理,融合了GlobeLand30数据等,建立了MODIS NDVI、夜间灯光数据(DMSP/OLS)和全球各分区30个典型城市Landsat TM获取的不透水面和绿地空间像元组分比例之间回归关系,发展了全球城市建成区内不透水面和绿地空间组分比例数据集.基于Google Earth高分辨率影像验证表明,城市不透水面制图的平均相对误差(MRE)为0.19.本文评估的全球城市用地面积为76.29×10~4km^2,主要分布于北半球的欧洲中部地区、亚洲东部地区和北美洲的中东部地区,其中北美洲、欧洲和亚洲城市用地面积为66.3×10~4km^2,占全球城市用地总面积的86.91%,全球前50位国家城市用地占全球城市用地面积总量的59.32%.全球城市不透水面面积为45.26×10~4km^2,集中分布于北美洲中南部、亚洲东部、欧洲大部分地区,以及全球海岸沿线地区.其中,北美洲、欧洲、亚洲城市不透水面面积占全球城市不透水面积的84.25%.研究也发现,全球不同发达程度国家之间城市不透水面分布和绿地布局呈现高度的空间差异特征,各大洲建成区内城市不透水面比例由大到小依次为:非洲>70%>南美洲>大洋洲>亚洲>60%>北美洲>欧洲>50%.全球各大洲绿地面积集中分布在北美洲东南部、欧洲西南部、亚洲东部和西部.其中,北美洲、欧洲和亚洲绿地面积占全球绿地总面积的89.44%.欧洲和北美洲的发达国家更注重城市景观设计及城市不透水面和绿地的有效镶嵌,城市建成区内绿地面积比例相对较高,而部分发展中国家和欠发达国家建成区内绿地面积比例相对较低,城市宜居环境有待提升.     

Reply to ‘Comment on: Rainfall,fog and throughfall dynamics in a subtropical ridge top cloud forest,National Park of Garajonay (La Gomera,Canary Islands,Spain)’ by A. Ritter and C.M. Regalado

This Reply aims to clarify and address many of the errors introduced to the discussion of our original paper (García‐Santos and Bruijnzeel, 2011; referred to henceforth as GSB2011) in the comment by Ritter and Regalado (2012) (henceforth referred to as RRR2012) as explained more fully under replies nos. 1–6, 8–12 and 14–18 below. Two (largely inconsequential) shortcomings in our original paper as detected by RRR2012 are acknowledged (see replies nos. 7 and 13 below). It is concluded that the majority of the comments offered by RRR2012 are unfounded as well as unnecessary. In summary, the two errors in GSB2011 spotted by RRR2012 (see points 7 and 13 below) could easily have been addressed in an erratum. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.