The Lorenz curve as an indicator of scale effect on image information content

Abstract

The value of any measurement of landscape ecological features is a function both of the image classification (and/or segmentation) and of the spatial scale of the analysis. These factors interact when the resolution is changed by spatial aggregation (grain coarsening). Partition of the image elements over the classes is quantified by evenness measures. Shifts in evenness are therefore expected to occur when spatial scale changes and are determined by absolute class abundance and by spatial pattern. The Lorenz curve is presented as a suitable indicator describing the shifts both quantitatively and graphically.