Measuring landscape pattern in three dimensional space.

General landscape metrics are mainly conducted in two dimensional space, while the terrain undulation is usually not considered. Terrain fluctuation affects a landscape’s spatial heterogeneity and its spatial-temporal dynamics by diversifying the spatial distribution of soil, vegetation and animals. This article proposed three methods to measure the landscape pattern in three dimensional space, including the 3D derivation of 2D landscape metrics, 3D surface roughness parameters, 3D power spectral analysis and 3D correlation analysis. 3D surface data were designed and validated using the proposed 3D landscape pattern analyzing metrics, and the results indicated that these measurements can effectively evaluate the 3D composition, spatial configuration and texture direction of 3D landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]