Publication
Morphological and Entropy Analysis of Urban Change in Six European Metropolitan Areas Based on Copernicus Land Monitoring Service Products
| Summary: | Urban areas across Europe are undergoing rapid morphological transformations driven by densification, redevelopment, and infrastructure expansion. Monitoring these urban changes requires operational, harmonized, and reproducible approaches grounded in Earth Observation. This study presents a Copernicus use case demonstrating how the High-Resolution Layer Imperviousness Change (2015–2018) and Urban Atlas datasets can be integrated with the Guidos Toolbox (GTB) to quantify structural urban change across six metropolitan areas (Milan, Sofia, Riga, Warsaw, Viseu, Santander). Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) and entropy-based indicators were applied to characterize land take, fragmentation, compaction, and internal reorganization of impervious surfaces. The combined framework captured both configurational morphology and spatial disorder, revealing divergent development patterns: pronounced heterogeneity and fragmentation in Sofia, stabilization or compact growth in Milan, Warsaw, and Santander, controlled densification in Riga, and localized intensification without outward expansion in Viseu. All analyses rely on openly accessible Copernicus data and open-source tools, ensuring full reproducibility and transferability. Outputs were disseminated through a FAIR-compliant geoportal developed within a Copernicus FPCUP project, supporting transparency and reuse. The findings underscore the value of Copernicus services for operational urban monitoring and provide a scalable methodology to support European land-use policies, including the Zero Net Land Take 2050 target and the EU Soil Strategy. |
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| Main Authors: | Marinosci, Ines |
| Other Authors: | Cimini, Angela; Congedo, Luca; Cucca, Benedetta; De Fioravante, Paolo; Dichicco, Pasquale; Minelli, Annalisa; Munafò, Michele; Riitano, Nicola; Krupiński, Michał; Lewiński, Stanisław; Sala, Szymon; Drejer, Kamil; Gryguc, Krzysztof; Ruciński, Marek; Brauns, Agris; Jakovels, Dainis; Dimitrov, Zlatomir; Filchev, Lachezar; Zaharinova, Mariana; Avetisyan, Daniela; Radeva, Kamelia; Jelev, Georgi; Filipov, Lyubomir; López Torralbo, Juan Manuel; Silió Calzada, Ana; Álvarez-Martínez, Jose M.; López Trullén, David; Costa, Hugo; Benevides, Pedro; Caetano, Mário |
| Subject: | Copernicus Land Monitoring Service Guidos Toolbox Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis Ecological connectivity Entropy Fragmentation Land take Landscape metrics Urban landscape changes General Earth and Planetary Sciences SDG 15 - Life on Land |
| Year: | 2026 |
| Country: | Portugal |
| Document type: | article |
| Access type: | open access |
| Associated institution: | Universidade Nova de Lisboa |
| Language: | English |
| Origin: | Repositório Institucional da UNL |
| Summary: | Urban areas across Europe are undergoing rapid morphological transformations driven by densification, redevelopment, and infrastructure expansion. Monitoring these urban changes requires operational, harmonized, and reproducible approaches grounded in Earth Observation. This study presents a Copernicus use case demonstrating how the High-Resolution Layer Imperviousness Change (2015–2018) and Urban Atlas datasets can be integrated with the Guidos Toolbox (GTB) to quantify structural urban change across six metropolitan areas (Milan, Sofia, Riga, Warsaw, Viseu, Santander). Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) and entropy-based indicators were applied to characterize land take, fragmentation, compaction, and internal reorganization of impervious surfaces. The combined framework captured both configurational morphology and spatial disorder, revealing divergent development patterns: pronounced heterogeneity and fragmentation in Sofia, stabilization or compact growth in Milan, Warsaw, and Santander, controlled densification in Riga, and localized intensification without outward expansion in Viseu. All analyses rely on openly accessible Copernicus data and open-source tools, ensuring full reproducibility and transferability. Outputs were disseminated through a FAIR-compliant geoportal developed within a Copernicus FPCUP project, supporting transparency and reuse. The findings underscore the value of Copernicus services for operational urban monitoring and provide a scalable methodology to support European land-use policies, including the Zero Net Land Take 2050 target and the EU Soil Strategy. |
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