Investigation of human modifications of landscape and climate in the phoenix Arizona Metropolitan area using master data

Abstract

Humans directly alter surficial processes and climate at the local or “neighborhood” scale (typically on the order of hundreds of hectares) where process response is not well understood. Investigation of surficial processes at this scale requires very high resolution (both spatial and spectral) data over a wide wavelength range. Commercial data from satellite-based sensors such as IKONOS and Quickbird now provide excellent spatial resolution in the visible through near-infrared wavelengths; however data with high spectral and spatial resolution at longer wavelengths, particularly the mid-infrared, are still the province of multispectral to hyperspectral airborne sensors. Superspectral data acquired by the NASA MASTER airborne sensor is being used to investigate social-biogeophysical microclimate interactions in Phoenix, Arizona neighborhoods. This sensor acquires data in 50 bands in the visible through mid-infrared wavelengths, placed to match the bandpasses of the satellite-based MODIS and ASTER instruments. Ground resolution of data acquired over the Phoenix metropolitan region varies from 5 – 12 m/pixel depending on aircraft height. Surface temperature and vegetation density spatial variations between neighborhoods spaced along an income gradient in Phoenix have been mapped using 12 m/pixel data. These data correlate with ethnicity and income level, and demonstrate inequity in the microclimates experienced by Phoenix residents.