Consecuencias de la elección de la resolución temática en la calibración de un modelo de usos y coberturas del suelo

Abstract

Land Use Land Cover (LULC) models, as abstraction of reality, come with uncertainty, which is dependent on the level of simplification carried out. This abstraction or simplification is related to the chosen scale and, as part of it, to the selected thematic resolution, that is, the thematic detail in the differentiation of the classes that compose a map. We have analyzed how this thematic detail affects a LULC model through its calibration employing four LULC maps at four different thematic resolutions. To that end, we have used SIOSE as database and Metronamica as the modelling software. Each calibration was carried out based on expert knowledge and manual adjustment according to spatial metrics and kappa indices performance as well as visual inspection. Results show a relation between thematic resolution and quantity and complexity of the changes modelled. Demands and pattern simulated depend also on the chosen thematic detail. The user must strike a balance between the modelling purpose and the thematic detail added to the model, since extra detail adds great complexity to the calibration and can reduce its effectiveness.