Coefficient of variation of Contiguity index (Shape metric)
Details
$$CONTIG_{CV} = cv(CONTIG[patch_{ij}])$$
where \(CONTIG[patch_{ij}]\) is the contiguity of each patch.
CONTIG_CV is a 'Shape metric'. It summarises the landscape as the coefficient of variation of all patches in the landscape. CONTIG_CV asses the spatial connectedness (contiguity) of cells in patches. The metric coerces patch values to a value of 1 and the background to NA. A nine cell focal filter matrix:
... is then used to weight orthogonally contiguous pixels more heavily than diagonally contiguous pixels. Therefore, larger and more connections between patch cells in the rookie case result in larger contiguity index values.
References
McGarigal K., SA Cushman, and E Ene. 2023. FRAGSTATS v4: Spatial Pattern Analysis Program for Categorical Maps. Computer software program produced by the authors; available at the following web site: https://www.fragstats.org
LaGro, J. 1991. Assessing patch shape in landscape mosaics. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 57(3), 285-293