(C3) Total (Class) Area

a_ij =     area (m²) of patch ij.

Description

CA equals the sum of the areas (m²) of all patches of the corresponding patch type, divided by 10,000 (to convert to hectares); that is, total class area.

Units 

Hectares

Range

CA > 0, without limit.

CA approaches 0 as the patch type becomes increasing rare in the landscape. CA = TA when the entire landscape consists of a single patch type; that is, when the entire image is comprised of a single patch.

Comments

Class area is a measure of landscape composition; specifically, how much of the landscape is comprised of a particular patch type. In addition to its direct interpretive value, class area is used in the computations for many of the class and landscape metrics.