Multifractal and Long-Term Memory of Impervious Surface Spatial Patterns in a Coastal City in China

Abstract

Abstract An understanding of the multifractal and long-range dependence of impervious surfaces (IS) spatiotemporal patterns is helpful for regional environmental assessment and urban planning. Linear spectral-mixture analysis has been applied to compute IS in the coastal city of Xiamen, China, based on Landsat TM/OLI/TIRS images, and then the long-term trends and multifractal characteristics of IS patterns have been investigated using two-dimensional multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis. The IS spatial distribution displayed similar positive long-range correlations in study areas during the 1994–2015 period. IS have a long-memory characteristic within a certain spatial range, with an increase in the value of a pixel likely to cause an increment in the value of its neighbors. The multifractality of the IS distribution increased in Xiamen City during 1994–2015, but was lower than those in Xiamen Island. The multifractal spectra in Xiamen City vary in shape between years, capturing its evolution from right truncation with a long left tail to left truncations and long right tails and then a symmetrical shape. The fractal structure for Xiamen Island exhibits similar patterns of long right tails and left truncations. Economic and political considerations coupled with natural geographic conditions dominate the long-range trends in the IS spatial patterns.