The spectral dimension in urban remote sensing

Urban environments are characterized by different types of materials and land cover surfaces than found in natural landscapes. The analysis of remote sensing data has to consider these unique spectral characteristics. This chapter describes the spectral properties of urban areas, how different urban land cover types are spectrally discriminated, and which sensor configurations are most useful to map urban areas. We also show how new remote sensing technologies improve our capabilities to map urban areas in high spatial and thematic detail