A four-component efficiency index for assessing land development using remote sensing and GIS

A variety of indices have been proposed to facilitate the quantitative analysis in remote sensing applications. The assessment of land development is important for minimizing development impacts and formulating alternative development plans. Much attention has been paid to the quantity of land use changes in general development assessment using remote sensing. However, additional information can be obtained from remote sensing and GIS for revealing land use problems more effectively. This paper presents four indicators, quantity, quality, location, and morphology to characterize land development patterns for fast-growing regions. A four-component efficiency index is further developed for ranking purposes to reflect economic and environmental considerations. The implementation of the method has been demonstrated in a fast-growing region in south China. Efforts have been made to verify the model with independent empirical data.