Beyond the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI): Developing a Natural Space Index for population-level health research

Rugel, Emily J.; Henderson, Sarah B.; Carpiano, Richard M.; Bräuer, Michael

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2017.08.033

Cited by 110 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…An important limitation of the GVI is that it only captures greenness from the street view, and is unable to characterize greenness in participants’ properties, particularly their backyards. Other related work to enhance measures of greenness that is ongoing includes efforts by investigators in Vancouver, Canada to develop the Natural Space Index [40]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index with the Google Street View Measure of Vegetation to Assess Associations between Greenness, Walkability, Recreational Physical Activity, and Health in Ottawa, Canada

Villeneuve

Ysseldyk

Root

et al. 2018

IJERPH

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The manner in which features of the built environment, such as walkability and greenness, impact participation in recreational activities and health are complex. We analyzed survey data provided by 282 Ottawa adults in 2016. The survey collected information on participation in recreational physical activities by season, and whether these activities were performed within participants’ neighbourhoods. The SF-12 instrument was used to characterize their overall mental and physical health. Measures of active living environment, and the satellite derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Google Street View (GSV) greenness indices were assigned to participants’ residential addresses. Logistic regression and least squares regression were used to characterize associations between these measures and recreational physical activity, and self-reported health. The NDVI was not associated with participation in recreational activities in either the winter or summer, or physical or mental health. In contrast, the GSV was positively associated with participation in recreational activities during the summer. Specifically, those in the highest quartile spent, on average, 5.4 more hours weekly on recreational physical activities relative to those in the lowest quartile (p = 0.01). Active living environments were associated with increased utilitarian walking, and reduced reliance on use of motor vehicles. Our findings provide support for the hypothesis that neighbourhood greenness may play an important role in promoting participation in recreational physical activity during the summer.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index with the Google Street View Measure of Vegetation to Assess Associations between Greenness, Walkability, Recreational Physical Activity, and Health in Ottawa, Canada

Villeneuve

Ysseldyk

Root

et al. 2018

IJERPH

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“…A methodological strength is the way in which we modeled greenery, namely by coupling cutting-edge deep learning with street view data. Neither streetscape greenery nor NDVI is affected by people's self-reporting and subjective perception [57], though it raises questions about the actual greenery use [58]. Both measures also do not convey information about the quality of greenery [58].…”

Section: Strengths and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Urban greenery and mental wellbeing in adults: Cross-sectional mediation analyses on multiple pathways across different greenery measures

Wang

Helbich

Yao

et al. 2019

Environmental Research

193

101

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Background: Multiple mechanisms have been proposed to explain how greenery in the vicinity of people's homes enhances their mental health and wellbeing. Mediation studies, however, focus on a limited number of mechanisms and rely on remotely sensed greenery measures, which do not accurately capture how neighborhood greenery is perceived on the ground.Objective: To examine: 1) how streetscape and remote sensing-based greenery affect people's mental wellbeing; 2) whether and, if so, to what extent the associations are mediated by physical activity, stress, air quality and noise, and social cohesion; and 3) whether differences in the mediation across the streetscape greenery and NDVI exposure metrics occurred. Methods:We used a population sample from 2016 of 1,029 adult residents of the metropolis of Guangzhou, China. Mental wellbeing was quantified by the World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5). Two objective greenery measures were extracted at the neighborhood level: 1) streetscape greenery from street view data via a convolutional neural network, and 2) the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from Landsat 8 remote sensing images. Single and multiple mediation analyses with multilevel regressions were conducted.Results: Streetscape and NDVI greenery were weakly and positively, but not significantly, correlated. Our regression results revealed that streetscape greenery and NDVI were, individually and jointly, positively associated with mental wellbeing. Significant partial mediators for the streetscape greenery were physical activity, stress, air quality and noise, and social cohesion; together, they explained 62% of the association.For NDVI, only physical activity and social cohesion were significant partial mediators, accounting for 22% of the association. Conclusions: Mental health and wellbeing and both streetscape and satellite-derived greenery seem to be both directly correlated and indirectly mediated. Our findings signify that both greenery measures capture different aspects of natural environments and may contribute to people's wellbeing by means of different mechanisms. 3 Keywords Green space; street view data; deep learning; mediation; mental wellbeing; China Highlights  Mechanisms underlying mental health and wellbeing benefits of greenery are not well established.  Streetscape greenery from street view images and a remote sensing-based vegetation index (NDVI) served as exposure measure. Higher mental wellbeing was correlated with more greenery, independently of the measure. Substantial proportions of greenery-wellbeing associations were explained by mediators; for streetscape greenery, mediation was higher. Different pathways seem to be at play across both greenery measures.

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“…Self-reports may better account for the actual interaction with greenspace, and therefore reduce misclassification in remote sensing exposure assessments, which is due to some well-known issues with GIS-derived metrics like the NDVI and land use indices (e.g., poor discrimination between types of greenspace and disregarding their actual quality, accessibility, and visibility from pedestrian’s point of view) [ 2 , 19 ]. Some remedies include new indices capturing multiple aspects of greenspace by integrating information from different sources, including remote sensing, local land use databases, private ownership data, and quality appraisals [ 42 ]; using GPS technology to track participants’ movement and assess greenspace along their actual travel routes [ 43 ]; and calculating visible vegetation from geotagged eye-level panoramic images [ 44 ]. However, perceptual measures not only compensate for the lack of precision of vegetation indices and land use-derived green space metrics, but also access the mental representation of residents’ living environment, considering individual differences, such as the attention that people pay to their surroundings, their preference for specific attributes involved in the appraisal of greenspace quality, personal salience, and intentions to engage in particular greenspace-related behaviors (e.g., “green sport”) [ 45 , 46 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lower Noise Annoyance Associated with GIS-Derived Greenspace: Pathways through Perceived Greenspace and Residential Noise

Dzhambov

Markevych

Tilov

et al. 2018

IJERPH

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Growing amounts of evidence support an association between self-reported greenspace near the home and lower noise annoyance; however, objectively defined greenspace has rarely been considered. In the present study, we tested the association between objective measures of greenspace and noise annoyance, with a focus on underpinning pathways through noise level and perceived greenspace. We sampled 720 students aged 18 to 35 years from the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Objective greenspace was defined by several Geographic Information System (GIS)-derived metrics: Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), tree cover density, percentage of green space in circular buffers of 100, 300 and 500 m, and the Euclidean distance to the nearest structured green space. Perceived greenspace was defined by the mean of responses to five items asking about its quantity, accessibility, visibility, usage, and quality. We assessed noise annoyance due to transportation and other neighborhood noise sources and daytime noise level (Lday) at the residence. Tests of the parallel mediation models showed that higher NDVI and percentage of green space in all buffers were associated with lower noise annoyance, whereas for higher tree cover this association was observed only in the 100 m buffer zone. In addition, the effects of NDVI and percentage of green space were mediated by higher perceived greenspace and lower Lday. In the case of tree cover, only perceived greenspace was a mediator. Our findings suggest that the potential for greenspace to reduce noise annoyance extends beyond noise abatement. Applying a combination of GIS-derived and perceptual measures should enable researchers to better tap individuals’ experience of residential greenspace and noise.

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Beyond the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI): Developing a Natural Space Index for population-level health research

Cited by 110 publications

References 66 publications

Comparing the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index with the Google Street View Measure of Vegetation to Assess Associations between Greenness, Walkability, Recreational Physical Activity, and Health in Ottawa, Canada

Comparing the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index with the Google Street View Measure of Vegetation to Assess Associations between Greenness, Walkability, Recreational Physical Activity, and Health in Ottawa, Canada

Urban greenery and mental wellbeing in adults: Cross-sectional mediation analyses on multiple pathways across different greenery measures

Lower Noise Annoyance Associated with GIS-Derived Greenspace: Pathways through Perceived Greenspace and Residential Noise

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