r.li.edgedensity(1grass)

r.li.edgedensity 💅

okay bestie, welcome to r.li.edgedensity from the GRASS User's Manual — this is the tool that calculates the edge density index on a raster map using a 4 neighbour algorithm. Yes, four. Not eight. Four. She's simple, she's iconic, she ate. ✨

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🎀 NAME 🎀

r.li.edgedensity — Calculates edge density index on a raster map, using a 4 neighbour algorithm.

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🌸 KEYWORDS 🌸

raster, landscape structure analysis, patch index

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

r.li.edgedensity
r.li.edgedensity --help
r.li.edgedensity [-b] input=name config=name output=name
[patch_type=string]   [--overwrite]  [--help]  [--verbose]  [--quiet]
[--ui]

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💖 OPTIONS 💖

🦋 Flags 🦋

• -b — Exclude border edges. literally just say no to the edges on the border, she's got boundaries 💅
• --overwrite — Allow output files to overwrite existing files. live dangerously, bestie
• --help — Print usage summary
• --verbose — Verbose module output. she will Not stop talking
• --quiet — Quiet module output. she's giving mysterious, silent, unbothered
• --ui — Force launching GUI dialog

🍓 Parameters 🍓

• input=name [required] — Name of input raster map
• config=name [required] — Configuration file
• output=name [required] — Name for output raster map
• patch_type=string — The value of the patch type. It can be integer, double or float; it will be changed in function of map type

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👑 DESCRIPTION 👑

so r.li.edgedensity calculates:

• the density of all edges of patch type k , or
• the density of all edges in the sampling area if k is not specified,

and here's the little glossary she's working with, no cap:

• k: patch type
• m: number of patch types
• n: number of edge segments of patch type k
• eik :total edge length in the landscape involving patch type k
• Area: total landscape area

The unit is meters per hectare. periodt. 📏

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🔥 NOTES 🔥

Do not use absolute path names for the config and output file/map parameters. she said what she said 🙈

If the "moving window" method was selected in g.gui.rlisetup, then the output will be a raster map. Otherwise an ASCII file will be generated in the folder:

• C:\Users\userxy\AppData\Roaming\GRASS8\r.li\output\ (MS-Windows), or
• $HOME/.grass8/r.li/output/ (GNU/Linux).

okay and if the input raster map contains only NULL values then r.li.edgedensity considers it to have 0 patches.

If area is 0, r.li.edgedensity returns NULL — and heads up, this is only possible if the input raster is masked. 😭

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💜 EXAMPLES 💜

To calculate the edge density index on map my_map, using my_conf configuration file (previously defined with g.gui.rlisetup) and saving results in my_out, run:

r.li.edgedensity input=my_map conf=my_conf output=my_out

To calculate edge density index of patch_type 34, using "my_conf" configuration file and on map "my_map", saving results in "my_out" file run:

r.li.edgedensity input=my_map conf=my_conf output=my_out patch_type=34

🌈 Forest map (Spearfish sample dataset) example 🌈

g.region raster=landcover.30m -p
r.mapcalc "forests = if(landcover.30m >= 41 && landcover.30m <= 43,1,null())"
r.li.edgedensity input=forests conf=movwindow7 out=forests_edgedens_mov7
r.univar forests_edgedens_mov7

🧚 Forest map (North Carolina sample dataset) example 🧚

g.region raster=landclass96 -p
r.mapcalc "forests = if(landclass96 == 5, 1, null() )"
r.li.edgedensity input=forests conf=movwindow7 out=forests_edgedensity_mov7
# verify
r.univar forests_edgedensity_mov7
r.to.vect input=forests output=forests type=area
d.mon wx0
d.rast forests_edgedensity_mov7
d.vect forests type=boundary

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⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

• r.li (package overview)
• g.gui.rlisetup

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🌟 REFERENCES 🌟

McGarigal, K., and B. J. Marks. 1995. FRAGSTATS: spatial pattern analysis program for quantifying landscape structure. USDA For. Serv. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-351. (PDF)

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💫 AUTHORS 💫

• Serena Pallecchi, student of Computer Science University of Pisa (Italy).
• Commission from Faunalia Pontedera (PI), Italy (www.faunalia.it)
• Markus Metz

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🫶 SOURCE CODE 🫶

Available at: r.li.edgedensity source code (history)

Latest change: Wednesday Apr 30 17:57:46 2025 in commit: 633b0261cc1d660aa1be383297c3ad1be98f03cd

Main index | Raster index | Topics index | Keywords index | Graphical index | Full index

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© 2003-2026 GRASS Development Team, GRASS 8.5.0 Reference Manual 🦋

and that's the whole page, bestie — r.li.edgedensity in GRASS 8.5.0, last touched Wednesday Apr 30 17:57:46 2025, commit 633b0261cc1d660aa1be383297c3ad1be98f03cd. go calculate some edge density, you icon 💖👑