SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS OF URBAN GREENERY PHENOLOGY IN DOWNTOWN BEIJING
AT METER TO KILOMETER SCALES
Abstract
To precisely describe the dynamics of vegetation cover in high-density
urban areas, this study evaluates the spatial and temporal consistency
of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from multiple
satellite data sources. The study areas of Downtown Beijing target at
two scales: the district scale, and the neighborhood scale. Results show
that Planet, Sentinel-2, Landsat-8, and MODIS share a similar spatial
pattern; Sentinel-2, Landsat-8, and MODIS correlate in the temporal
change of NDVI at both spatial scales in 2019, but AVHRR does not
present useful information of spatial patterns of urban green space or
urban vegetation dynamics at these two scales. Seasonal contrast derived
from Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 can be visualized through seasonal
variation ratio to assist urban green space planning. This study
highlights the usefulness of existing satellite observations in
monitoring a variety of urban greening typologies at the neighborhood
scale for improving urban environmental planning.