TY - JOUR
T1 - Spatial resolution of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and greenness exposure misclassification in an urban cohort
AU - Jimenez, Raquel B.
AU - Lane, Kevin J.
AU - Hutyra, Lucy R.
AU - Fabian, M. Patricia
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Background: The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is a measure of greenness widely used in environmental health research. High spatial resolution NDVI has become increasingly available; however, the implications of its use in exposure assessment are not well understood. Objective: To quantify the impact of NDVI spatial resolution on greenness exposure misclassification. Methods: Greenness exposure was assessed for 31,328 children in the Greater Boston Area in 2016 using NDVI from MODIS (250 m2), Landsat 8 (30 m2), Sentinel-2 (10 m2), and the National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP, 1 m2). We compared continuous and categorical greenness estimates for multiple buffer sizes under a reliability assessment framework. Exposure misclassification was evaluated using NAIP data as reference. Results: Greenness estimates were greater for coarser resolution NDVI, but exposure distributions were similar. Continuous estimates showed poor agreement and high consistency, while agreement in categorical estimates ranged from poor to strong. Exposure misclassification was higher with greater differences in resolution, smaller buffers, and greater number of exposure quantiles. The proportion of participants changing greenness quantiles was higher for MODIS (11–60%), followed by Landsat 8 (6–44%), and Sentinel-2 (5–33%). Significance: Greenness exposure assessment is sensitive to spatial resolution of NDVI, aggregation area, and number of exposure quantiles. Greenness exposure decisions should ponder relevant pathways for specific health outcomes and operational considerations. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].
AB - Background: The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is a measure of greenness widely used in environmental health research. High spatial resolution NDVI has become increasingly available; however, the implications of its use in exposure assessment are not well understood. Objective: To quantify the impact of NDVI spatial resolution on greenness exposure misclassification. Methods: Greenness exposure was assessed for 31,328 children in the Greater Boston Area in 2016 using NDVI from MODIS (250 m2), Landsat 8 (30 m2), Sentinel-2 (10 m2), and the National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP, 1 m2). We compared continuous and categorical greenness estimates for multiple buffer sizes under a reliability assessment framework. Exposure misclassification was evaluated using NAIP data as reference. Results: Greenness estimates were greater for coarser resolution NDVI, but exposure distributions were similar. Continuous estimates showed poor agreement and high consistency, while agreement in categorical estimates ranged from poor to strong. Exposure misclassification was higher with greater differences in resolution, smaller buffers, and greater number of exposure quantiles. The proportion of participants changing greenness quantiles was higher for MODIS (11–60%), followed by Landsat 8 (6–44%), and Sentinel-2 (5–33%). Significance: Greenness exposure assessment is sensitive to spatial resolution of NDVI, aggregation area, and number of exposure quantiles. Greenness exposure decisions should ponder relevant pathways for specific health outcomes and operational considerations. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].
KW - Epidemiological studies
KW - Exposure assessment
KW - Exposure misclassification
KW - Greenness
KW - Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)
KW - Spatial resolution
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85123850023&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41370-022-00409-w
DO - 10.1038/s41370-022-00409-w
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85123850023
SN - 1559-0631
JO - Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology
JF - Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology
ER -