{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,28]],"date-time":"2026-03-28T05:26:15Z","timestamp":1774675575887,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2014,4,16]],"date-time":"2014-04-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1397606400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/3.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Describing and quantifying the spatial heterogeneity of land cover in urban systems is crucial for developing an ecological understanding of cities. This paper presents a new approach to quantifying the fine-scale heterogeneity in urban landscapes that capitalizes on the strengths of two commonly used approaches\u2014visual interpretation and object-based image analysis. This new approach integrates the ability of humans to detect pattern with an object-based image analysis that accurately and efficiently quantifies the components that give rise to that pattern. Patches that contain a mix of built and natural land cover features were first delineated through visual interpretation. These patches served as pre-defined boundaries for finer-scale segmentation and classification of within-patch land cover features which were classified using object-based image analysis. Patches were then classified based on the within-patch proportion cover of features. We applied this approach to the Gwynns Falls watershed in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. The object-based classification approach proved to be effective for classifying within-patch land cover features. The overall accuracy of the classification maps of 1999 and 2004 were 92.3% and 93.7%, respectively. This exercise demonstrates that by integrating visual interpretation with object-based classification, the fine-scale spatial heterogeneity in urban landscapes and land cover change can be described and quantified in a more efficient and ecologically meaningful way than either purely automated or visual methods alone. This new approach provides a tool that allows us to quantify the structure of the urban landscape including both built and non-built components that will better accommodate ecological research linking system structure to ecological processes.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs6043369","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2014,4,16]],"date-time":"2014-04-16T11:39:38Z","timestamp":1397648378000},"page":"3369-3386","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":60,"title":["Quantifying Spatial Heterogeneity in Urban Landscapes: Integrating Visual Interpretation and  Object-Based Classification"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"6","author":[{"given":"Weiqi","family":"Zhou","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shuangqinglu 18, Beijing 100085, China"}]},{"given":"Mary.","family":"Cadenasso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, Mail Stop 1, 1210 PES, One Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616, USA"}]},{"given":"Kirsten","family":"Schwarz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Northern Kentucky University, Nunn Drive, Highland Heights, KY 41099, USA"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1899-976X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Steward","family":"Pickett","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, NY 12545, USA"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2014,4,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"571","DOI":"10.1641\/0006-3568(2000)050[0571:IATLTO]2.0.CO;2","article-title":"Integrated approaches to long-term studies of urban ecological systems","volume":"50","author":"Grimm","year":"2000","journal-title":"Bioscience"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"127","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.ecolsys.32.081501.114012","article-title":"Urban ecological systems: Linking terrestrial ecological, physical, and socioeconomic components of metropolitan areas","volume":"32","author":"Pickett","year":"2001","journal-title":"Annu Rev. 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