Morphological and Entropy Analysis of Urban Change in Six European Metropolitan Areas Based on Copernicus Land Monitoring Service Products

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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Publication Details

Journal
Remote Sensing
Published
2026-04-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs18081149
Primary Topic
Land Use and Ecosystem Services
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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Morphological and Entropy Analysis of Urban Change in Six European Metropolitan Areas Based on Copernicus Land Monitoring Service Products

Marek Ruciński, Dainis Jakovels, Pedro Benevides, Benedetta Cucca et al.
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article

Morphological and Entropy Analysis of Urban Change in Six European Metropolitan Areas Based on Copernicus Land Monitoring Service Products

Marek Ruciński, Dainis Jakovels, Pedro Benevides, Benedetta Cucca, Nicola Riitano, Ana Silio Calzada, Zlatomir Dimitrov, S. Lewiński, Angela Cimini, Ines Marinosci, Luca Congedo, Kamelia Radeva, David López Trullén, Daniela Avetisyan, Georgi Jelev, Michele Munafò, Krzysztof Gryguc, Michał Krupiński, Pasquale Dichicco, Annalisa Minelli, Paolo De Fioravante, Lachezar Filchev, Agris Brauns, Mariana Zaharinova, Szymon Sala, Lyubomir Filipov, Kamil Drejer, Mário Caetano, Jose M. Álvarez-Martínez, Juan Manuel López Torralbo
article en

Abstract

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.

Remote SensingVol. 18(8)
Centrum Badań Kosmicznych (PL), Universidad de Cantabria (ES), Universidad de Oviedo (ES), Gobierno del Principado de Asturias (ES), Space Research and Technology Institute (BG), Institute for Environmental Solutions (LV), Ente Regionale per i Servizi all'Agricoltura e alle Foreste (IT), Biodiversity Research Institute (US), Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (IT), Enpro Consult (Bulgaria) (BG), Direção Geral do Território (PT), Instituto de Física de Cantabria (ES), Universidade Nova de Lisboa (PT)
Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale
Sustainable cities and communities
Openalex Percentile: Top 19%
Land Use and Ecosystem Services
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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