Estimating the starting time and identifying the type of urbanization based on dense time series of landsat-derived Vegetation-Impervious-Soil (V-I-S) maps – A case study of North Taiwan from 1990 to 2015

Land cover and land use change (LCLUC) is a global phenomenon, and LCLUC in urbanizing regions has substantial impacts on humans and their environments. In this paper, a semi-automatic approach to identifying the type and starting time of urbanization was developed and tested based on dense time series of Vegetation-Impervious-Soil (V-I-S) maps derived from Landsat surface reflectance imagery. The accuracy of modeled V-I-S fractions and the estimated time of initial change in impervious cover were assessed. North Taiwan, one of the regions of the island of Taiwan that experienced the greatest urban LCLUC, was chosen as a test area, and the study period is 1990 to 2015, a period of substantial urbanization. In total, 295 dates of Landsat imagery were used to create 295 V-I-S fraction maps that were used to construct fractional cover time series for each pixel. Root Mean Square Error (RMSE)s for the modeled Vegetation, Impervious, and Soil were 25 %, 22 %, 24 % respectively. The time of Urban Expansion is estimated by logistic regression applied to Impervious cover time series, while the time of change for Urban Renewal is determined by the period of brief Soil exposure. The identified location and estimated time for newly urbanized lands were generally accurate, with 80% of Urban Expansion estimated within ±2.4 years. However, the accuracy of identified Urban Renewal was relatively low. Our approach to identifying Urban Expansion with dense time series of Landsat imagery is shown to be reliable, while Urban Renewal identification is not.