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Landscape Characterization / Impervious Surfaces / Environmental Indicators
Environmental Indicators
Why consider impervious surfaces in land use decisions?
- The urbanization of watersheds profoundly alters local hydrological
cycles and water quality.
- The thermal and reflective properties of impervious surfaces are linked
to the urban heat island effect.
- Imperviousness provides a succinct, straightforward indicator of habitat
loss and stream degradation.
- Increasing imperviousness correlates with changes in stream and landscape
aesthetics.
Imperviousness is a KEY environmental indicator! Imperviousness
is useful to land-use decision-makers, planners, and concerned citizens
because:
- It is integrative, in that it reflects
a number of environmental factors, and can be used to estimate both
the immediate and the cumulative environmental impacts of land development
without much fuss or technical difficulty.
- It can be measured and mapped using a variety of methods,
including the use of satellite data and images to determine the extent
of watershed imperviousness.
- It is easily and inexpensively monitored once it is
measured and mapped.
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What are the environmental effects of impervious surfaces?
The environmental effects of impervious surfaces are varied and interconnected.
These include impacts upon:
- Water Quantity
- Water Quality
- Energy Balances and Local Climates
- Habitat Degradation, Loss, and Fragmentation
- Stream and Landscape Aesthetics
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