PROGRESS IN GEOGRAPHY ›› 2021, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (9): 1600-1612.doi: 10.18306/dlkxjz.2021.09.014

• Industrial Applications of UAV • Previous Articles    

City image perception of Xi’an based on unmanned aerial vehicle photography photos

CHEN Xiliang1(), LI Gang1,2,*(), XU Feng1, YU Yue1, ZHANG Qianxi1   

  1. 1. College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, China
    2. Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Earth Surface System and Environmental Carrying Capacity, Xi'an 710127, China
  • Received:2020-09-24 Revised:2021-02-04 Online:2021-09-28 Published:2021-11-28
  • Contact: LI Gang E-mail:635991388@qq.com;lig@nwu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    Tang Scholar Program of Northwest University(2016);College Students Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program of Shaanxi Province(2020281)

Abstract:

With the rapid development of civilian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology, UAV aerial photography has become an important data source for urban image perception research. Based on the photos, text introduction, shooting location, and related data of UAVs photos of Xi'an City obtained from the social media platform SkyPixel, this study used computer vision analysis, computer text emotion analysis, social network analysis, and GIS spatial analysis to explore the city image of Xi'an from the perspective of UAV. The research results show that: 1) UAV aerial photography photos are mainly concentrated in the main urban areas, and there are fewer aerial data points in the suburb. The spatial distribution of photos presents a pattern of dense inside and sparse outside, with the highest density area in the center of the city at the junction zone of the three districts, showing a dumbbell-type distribution extending from the north to south. 2) The visual images are mostly of modern urban landscape description, of which the content of human landscape is dominant. 3) Emotion evaluation presents an overall positive feeling, and the polarization of the popular tourist attractions is obvious in the main urban area. Finally, this study explored the mechanism of city image formation and promotion from the perspective of UAV, and provided recommendations for the optimization of Xi'an city image construction and UAV use policy.

Key words: city image, visual analysis, UAV, aerial photography photos, Xi'an City