In choropleth mapping, most classification schemes that have been proposed are based on the properties of the datas statistical distribution without regard for the datas spatial distribution. However, one of the more important tasks associated with choropleth map reading is the task of regionalization and identifying spatial patterns. For this reason some authors have proposed class interval selection procedures that also consider spatial contiguity. This book evaluates different classification schemes based on given data sets statistical as well as its spatial distribution. This book also...

The urban heat island (UHI) effect has caught the great attention with the fast urbanization processes. Kolkata Metropolitan Area in India is one of the regions experiencing rapid urbanization that has resulted in UHI which will influence the regional climate, environment and socio-economic development. Two distinct Land sat ETM+ images (year of 2000 and 2010) are analyzed to delineate the UHI and its effectiveness on environment by converting the gray-scale values of band 6.1 into kinetic land surface temperature with considering the emissivity factor of land use / land cover. This analysis...

Wetlands are the transitional lands between terrestrial and aquatic systems where the water table is usually at or near the land surface or the land is covered by shallow water. Wetlands play a significant role in maintaining environmental stability in a world where environmental degradation is increasing day by day. More than half of the wetlands in the world have been lost in the last century mainly due to human activities, including wetland draining or filling, hydrological alternations, chronic degradation due to nonpoint source pollution, and introduction of exotic species. Wetlands are...