The relationship of NDVI and GVI, and the effect of building heights: A case study in Athens, Greece

Alexandros Athanasios Voukenas; Vassilis Andronis; Alexandros Nikitas; Pol Kolokousis; Efthimios Bakogiannis

doi:10.1109/JURSE60372.2025.11075976

The relationship of NDVI and GVI, and the effect of building heights: A case study in Athens, Greece

Alexandros Athanasios Voukenas, Vassilis Andronis, Alexandros Nikitas, Pol Kolokousis, Efthimios Bakogiannis

National Technical University of Athens

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

Abstract

Urban green spaces play a crucial role in enhancing the sustainability of cities, making it a necessity for their measurement methods to be precise and reliable. Mapping of urban green has been standardized with multiple data sources, such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) derived from satellite imagery, and the Green View Index (GVI), derived from street-level imagery. Both are popular, complementary methods for quantifying urban green. This case study, in Athens, Greece, aims to investigate the strength of their relationship for different resolutions of NDVI. In addition, as NDVI is sensitive to height variations of the imaged area, this relationship was also quantified in terms of the effect of building heights. Results show a strong relationship between the two indices, but not linear. Incorporating building heights into proper models is a method that could support a more comprehensive approach.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	2025 Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event
Subtitle of host publication	JURSE 2025
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Number of pages	4
ISBN (Electronic)	9798350371833
ISBN (Print)	9798350371840
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/JURSE60372.2025.11075976
Publication status	Published - 16 Jul 2025
Event	2025 Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event - Tunis, Tunisia Duration: 5 May 2025 → 7 May 2025

Publication series

Name	Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event
Publisher	IEEE
ISSN (Print)	2334-0932
ISSN (Electronic)	2642-9535

Conference

Conference	2025 Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event
Abbreviated title	JURSE 2025
Country/Territory	Tunisia
City	Tunis
Period	5/05/25 → 7/05/25

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

Access to Document

10.1109/JURSE60372.2025.11075976Licence: Unspecified

Cite this

Voukenas, A. A., Andronis, V., Nikitas, A., Kolokousis, P., & Bakogiannis, E. (2025). The relationship of NDVI and GVI, and the effect of building heights: A case study in Athens, Greece. In 2025 Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event: JURSE 2025 Article 11075976 (Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.. https://doi.org/10.1109/JURSE60372.2025.11075976

@inproceedings{2d079d5fff2649d3b07044e9add30841,

title = "The relationship of NDVI and GVI, and the effect of building heights: A case study in Athens, Greece",

abstract = "Urban green spaces play a crucial role in enhancing the sustainability of cities, making it a necessity for their measurement methods to be precise and reliable. Mapping of urban green has been standardized with multiple data sources, such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) derived from satellite imagery, and the Green View Index (GVI), derived from street-level imagery. Both are popular, complementary methods for quantifying urban green. This case study, in Athens, Greece, aims to investigate the strength of their relationship for different resolutions of NDVI. In addition, as NDVI is sensitive to height variations of the imaged area, this relationship was also quantified in terms of the effect of building heights. Results show a strong relationship between the two indices, but not linear. Incorporating building heights into proper models is a method that could support a more comprehensive approach.",

keywords = "building heights, GVI, NDVI, urban green",

author = "Voukenas, \{Alexandros Athanasios\} and Vassilis Andronis and Alexandros Nikitas and Pol Kolokousis and Efthimios Bakogiannis",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 IEEE.; 2025 Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event, JURSE 2025 ; Conference date: 05-05-2025 Through 07-05-2025",

year = "2025",

month = jul,

day = "16",

doi = "10.1109/JURSE60372.2025.11075976",

language = "English",

isbn = "9798350371840",

series = "Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event",

publisher = "Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.",

booktitle = "2025 Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event",

address = "United States",

}

Voukenas, AA, Andronis, V, Nikitas, A, Kolokousis, P & Bakogiannis, E 2025, The relationship of NDVI and GVI, and the effect of building heights: A case study in Athens, Greece. in 2025 Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event: JURSE 2025., 11075976, Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2025 Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event, Tunis, Tunisia, 5/05/25. https://doi.org/10.1109/JURSE60372.2025.11075976

The relationship of NDVI and GVI, and the effect of building heights: A case study in Athens, Greece. / Voukenas, Alexandros Athanasios; Andronis, Vassilis; Nikitas, Alexandros et al.
2025 Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event: JURSE 2025. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2025. 11075976 (Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - The relationship of NDVI and GVI, and the effect of building heights

T2 - 2025 Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event

AU - Voukenas, Alexandros Athanasios

AU - Andronis, Vassilis

AU - Nikitas, Alexandros

AU - Kolokousis, Pol

AU - Bakogiannis, Efthimios

PY - 2025/7/16

Y1 - 2025/7/16

N2 - Urban green spaces play a crucial role in enhancing the sustainability of cities, making it a necessity for their measurement methods to be precise and reliable. Mapping of urban green has been standardized with multiple data sources, such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) derived from satellite imagery, and the Green View Index (GVI), derived from street-level imagery. Both are popular, complementary methods for quantifying urban green. This case study, in Athens, Greece, aims to investigate the strength of their relationship for different resolutions of NDVI. In addition, as NDVI is sensitive to height variations of the imaged area, this relationship was also quantified in terms of the effect of building heights. Results show a strong relationship between the two indices, but not linear. Incorporating building heights into proper models is a method that could support a more comprehensive approach.

AB - Urban green spaces play a crucial role in enhancing the sustainability of cities, making it a necessity for their measurement methods to be precise and reliable. Mapping of urban green has been standardized with multiple data sources, such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) derived from satellite imagery, and the Green View Index (GVI), derived from street-level imagery. Both are popular, complementary methods for quantifying urban green. This case study, in Athens, Greece, aims to investigate the strength of their relationship for different resolutions of NDVI. In addition, as NDVI is sensitive to height variations of the imaged area, this relationship was also quantified in terms of the effect of building heights. Results show a strong relationship between the two indices, but not linear. Incorporating building heights into proper models is a method that could support a more comprehensive approach.

KW - building heights

KW - GVI

KW - NDVI

KW - urban green

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105012204398

U2 - 10.1109/JURSE60372.2025.11075976

DO - 10.1109/JURSE60372.2025.11075976

M3 - Conference contribution

AN - SCOPUS:105012204398

SN - 9798350371840

T3 - Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event

BT - 2025 Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event

PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.

Y2 - 5 May 2025 through 7 May 2025

ER -

The relationship of NDVI and GVI, and the effect of building heights: A case study in Athens, Greece

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this