 |
aij = area (m2) of patch ij. |
| Description | AREA equals the area (m2) of the patch, divided by 10,000 (to convert to hectares). |
| Units | Hectares |
| Range | AREA > 0, without limit. The range in AREA is limited by the grain and extent of the image; in a particular application, AREA may be further limited by the specification of a minimum patch size that is larger than the grain. |
| Comments | The area of each patch comprising a landscape mosaic is perhaps the single most important and useful piece of information contained in the landscape. Not only is this information the basis for many of the patch, class, and landscape indices, but patch area has a great deal of ecological utility in its own right. Note that the choice of the 4-neighbor or 8-neighbor rule for delineating patches will have an impact on this metric. |
