Use of Earth observation for monitoring soil sealing trends in Flanders and Brussels between 1976 and 2013

The on-going growth of urban area in Flanders and in the Brussels Capital Region over the past decades has resulted in a highly sprawled urban tissue, consisting of large and smaller urban agglomerations, connected by a well-developed transportation network. The conversion of open land to urban area...

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Main Authors: Sven Vanderhaegen, Frank Canters
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Société Royale Belge de Géographie and the Belgian National Committee of Geography 2016-03-01
Series:Belgeo
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/belgeo/18025
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author Sven Vanderhaegen
Frank Canters
author_facet Sven Vanderhaegen
Frank Canters
author_sort Sven Vanderhaegen
collection DOAJ
description The on-going growth of urban area in Flanders and in the Brussels Capital Region over the past decades has resulted in a highly sprawled urban tissue, consisting of large and smaller urban agglomerations, connected by a well-developed transportation network. The conversion of open land to urban area is accompanied by an increase in soil sealing, affecting the hydrological cycle and the urban climate. Despite a growing interest in monitoring the process of soil sealing in urban areas, to date no detailed information on the presence and evolution of sealed surfaces is available for Flanders. In this paper a linear regression unmixing approach is proposed to map and monitor changes of sealed surface cover at the regional scale, using medium as well as high resolution remote sensing data. Applied to Flanders and the Brussels Capital Region, a total sealed area of 2687 km² for 2013 is found, corresponding to an increase of 82% since 1976. Residential areas account for nearly half of the sealed area and show the largest increase in sealed surface cover over the past 37 years.
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issn 1377-2368
2294-9135
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publishDate 2016-03-01
publisher Société Royale Belge de Géographie and the Belgian National Committee of Geography
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spelling doaj-art-a49646a1ce644d78b831ca4166d3bd592025-08-20T02:11:49ZengSociété Royale Belge de Géographie and the Belgian National Committee of GeographyBelgeo1377-23682294-91352016-03-01210.4000/belgeo.18025Use of Earth observation for monitoring soil sealing trends in Flanders and Brussels between 1976 and 2013Sven VanderhaegenFrank CantersThe on-going growth of urban area in Flanders and in the Brussels Capital Region over the past decades has resulted in a highly sprawled urban tissue, consisting of large and smaller urban agglomerations, connected by a well-developed transportation network. The conversion of open land to urban area is accompanied by an increase in soil sealing, affecting the hydrological cycle and the urban climate. Despite a growing interest in monitoring the process of soil sealing in urban areas, to date no detailed information on the presence and evolution of sealed surfaces is available for Flanders. In this paper a linear regression unmixing approach is proposed to map and monitor changes of sealed surface cover at the regional scale, using medium as well as high resolution remote sensing data. Applied to Flanders and the Brussels Capital Region, a total sealed area of 2687 km² for 2013 is found, corresponding to an increase of 82% since 1976. Residential areas account for nearly half of the sealed area and show the largest increase in sealed surface cover over the past 37 years.https://journals.openedition.org/belgeo/18025BrusselsFlandersland usesealed surfacesspectral unmixing
spellingShingle Sven Vanderhaegen
Frank Canters
Use of Earth observation for monitoring soil sealing trends in Flanders and Brussels between 1976 and 2013
Belgeo
Brussels
Flanders
land use
sealed surfaces
spectral unmixing
title Use of Earth observation for monitoring soil sealing trends in Flanders and Brussels between 1976 and 2013
title_full Use of Earth observation for monitoring soil sealing trends in Flanders and Brussels between 1976 and 2013
title_fullStr Use of Earth observation for monitoring soil sealing trends in Flanders and Brussels between 1976 and 2013
title_full_unstemmed Use of Earth observation for monitoring soil sealing trends in Flanders and Brussels between 1976 and 2013
title_short Use of Earth observation for monitoring soil sealing trends in Flanders and Brussels between 1976 and 2013
title_sort use of earth observation for monitoring soil sealing trends in flanders and brussels between 1976 and 2013
topic Brussels
Flanders
land use
sealed surfaces
spectral unmixing
url https://journals.openedition.org/belgeo/18025
work_keys_str_mv AT svenvanderhaegen useofearthobservationformonitoringsoilsealingtrendsinflandersandbrusselsbetween1976and2013
AT frankcanters useofearthobservationformonitoringsoilsealingtrendsinflandersandbrusselsbetween1976and2013