Applied Sciences, Vol. 14, Pages 2133: Online Street View-Based Approach for Sky View Factor Estimation: A Case Study of Nanjing, China

Applied Sciences, Vol. 14, Pages 2133: Online Street View-Based Approach for Sky View Factor Estimation: A Case Study of Nanjing, China

Applied Sciences doi: 10.3390/app14052133

Authors: Haiyang Xu Huaxing Lu Shichen Liu

The Sky View Factor (SVF) stands as a critical metric for quantitatively assessing urban spatial morphology and its estimation method based on Street View Imagery (SVI) has gained significant attention in recent years. However, most existing Street View-based methods prove inefficient and constrained in SVI dataset collection. These approaches often fall short in capturing detailed visual areas of the sky, and do not meet the requirements for handling large areas. Therefore, an online method for the rapid estimation of a large area SVF using SVI is presented in this study. The approach has been integrated into a WebGIS tool called BMapSVF, which refines the extent of the visible sky and allows for instant estimation of the SVF at observation points. In this paper, an empirical case study is carried out in the street canyons of the Qinhuai District of Nanjing to illustrate the effectiveness of the method. To validate the accuracy of the refined SVF extraction method, we employ both the SVI method based on BMapSVF and the simulation method founded on 3D urban building models. The results demonstrate an acceptable level of refinement accuracy in the test area.