 |
aij = area (m2) of patch ij. aijs = area (m2) of smallest circumscribing circle around patch ij. |
| Description | CIRCLE equals 1 minus patch area (m2) divided by the area (m2) of the smallest circumscribing circle. |
| Units | None |
| Range | 0 < CIRCLE < 1 CIRCLE approaches 0 for circular patches and approaches 1 for elongated, linear patches one cell wide. |
| Comments | Related circumscribing circle derives from Baker and Cai (1992). Note, this index is not influenced by patch size. In addition, the index never quite equals 0 because the grid data format doesn't allow patches to be perfectly circular and yet the area of the circumscribing circle is computed geometrically based on the patch radius. |
