Estimating impervious surface of Bohai ring megalopolis from Landsat imagery using SVM method

The objective of this paper is to map large-area impervious surfaces in bohai ring megalopolis areas from Landsat imagery using SVM method. Then, combined with the sixth population census data, the map of the impervious surface area (ISA) per person is derived. Finally, this paper analyses the relationship between the impervious surfaces and population census data, and gross domestic product (GDP) data. Our results indicated that the density of ISA in Beijing and Tianjin were great higher than in other administrative regions. By comparing the ISA with population census and GDP data, our results also indicated that the ISA was highly correlated with population census and GDP data. A strong relationship (R²= 0.879) was observed between the ISA and the population census data in the whole study area. In addition, a strong and positive relationship was observed between the ISA and GDP data (correlation coefficient R²= 0.779 for the whole study area). This research can provide a simple method for policy makers to assess potential urbanization impacts of future urban planning and development activities.