Realizing the Box-counting Method for Calculating the Fractal Dimension of the Urban Form Based on the Remote Sensing Image

摘要

In the research of fractal cities, the fractal dimension is very important. It can be used to describe the fractal character of the city. This paper designs two ways to calculate the fractal dimension by the box-counting method through an example of Beijing. The two methods are called the vector method and the grid method respectively. The former calculates the fractal dimension through the intersecting analysis in ArcView. And the latter does its job by programming in Matlab. And they are compared from three aspects: the calculating process, the limits in use and the results. As a result, we get the conclusion that there are merits and faults on both methods and they should be chosen to use properly in practical situation.