Assessing Green Space in Urban and Suburban Oregon
This study analyzes green space in cities in the Willamette Valley, Oregon to establish sustainability trends in the region based on certain indicators. Green space is characterized using a standard definition of unsealed, permeable land. This definition is extended for the purposes of this study to include land that is classifiable using remotely-sensed data. The cities of Corvallis and Eugene were chosen based on their perceived attention to environmental issues, population characteristics, and educational statistics. The first objective was classification of land cover types in terms of nominative characteristics using Advanced Spacebourne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER). Vegetation cover is also assessed through a Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI). This is followed by a comparison to the characteristics of an intermediately located city, Harrisburg, OR, which is not considered politically green. The final objective is an analysis of trends in green space coverage (on a scale of percentage green) over the past six years. It is expected that green space in cities considered to be environmentally friendly will increase over a specified time period, as will the surrounding urban areas, due to their geographical proximities.