How often do we need to calibrate the models? Revalidation of the MOLAND model calibrated for the Greater Dublin Region (original) (raw)

The MOLAND Model Calibration and Validation for the Greater Dublin Region

This paper presents the results of the MOLAND model calibration and validation for the Greater Dublin Region (GDR). Having landuse data for three time periods (1990, 2000 and 2006) gives a rare opportunity to apply the classic "calibrate and validate" approach. But economic growth fluctuations in Ireland from 1990 to 2006 cause some challenges for calibration/validation of the model for that period. This will be discussed in this paper using the MOLAND model as an example. Population and employment data used in the model, as well as achieved calibration results and appropriate parameters are presented.

The MOLAND model calibration and validation for greater Dublin region

This paper presents the results of the MOLAND model calibration and validation for the Greater Dublin Region (GDR). Having landuse data for three time periods (1990, 2000 and 2006) gives a rare opportunity to apply the classic "calibrate and validate" approach. But economic growth fluctuations in Ireland from 1990 to 2006 cause some challenges for calibration/validation of the model for that period. This will be discussed in this paper using the MOLAND model as an example. Population and employment data used in the model, as well as achieved calibration results and appropriate parameters are presented.

A Remote Sensing Based Calibration Framework for the MOLAND Urban Growth Model of Dublin

International Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Information Systems, 2012

Land-use change models are useful tools for assessing and comparing the environmental impact of alternative policy scenarios. Their increasing popularity as spatial planning instruments also poses new scientific challenges, such as correctly calibrating the model. The challenge in model calibration is twofold: obtaining a reliable and consistent time series of land-use information and finding suitable measures to compare model output to reality. Both of these issues are addressed in this paper. The authors propose a model calibration framework that is supported by information on urban form and function derived from medium-resolution remote sensing data through newly developed spatial metrics. The remote sensing derived maps are compared to model output of the same date for two model scenarios using well-known spatial metrics. Results demonstrate a good resemblance between the simulation output and the remote sensing derived maps.

Data Preparation for the MOLAND Model Application for the Greater Dublin Region

2009

This paper presents the data preparation and processing steps that were taken to provide inputs for the MOLAND model application for the Greater Dublin Region. The model requires spatial and socioeconomic data by county for the beginning and end years of the calibration period i.e. 1990, 2000 and 2006. In addition, projections of socio-economic variables are required for implementing different scenarios. Basic data requirements of the new transport model and description of related data collection works are also presented. Heretofore detailed information and justification for approaches taken in preparing data for ingestion to MOLAND has been undocumented. This paper aims to address that gap. Therefore the steps that have been taken to prepare and process these datasets are described in detail including background information, interpretation and processing methods used and the main assumptions and generalisations adopted.

Calibration of an Integrated Land-Use and Transportation Model Using Maximum-Likelihood Estimation

IEEE Transactions on Computers, 2000

The focus of this work is calibration of the land use module of an integrated land use and transportation model (ILUTM). The calibration task involves estimating key parameters that dictate the output of the land use module. Hence, an algorithm based on maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) is developed for calibration. Furthermore, the observed values of the outputs from the land use module are assumed to admit a Gaussian error.

Improving the Calibration of the MOLAND Urban Growth Model with Land-Use Information Derived from a Time-Series of Medium Resolution Remote Sensing Data

… Science and Its …, 2010

Calibrating land-use change models requires a time-series of reliable and consistent land-use maps, which are often not available. Medium resolution satellite images have a temporal and spatial resolution that is ideally suited for model calibration, and could therefore be an important information source to improve the performance of land-use change models. In this research, a calibration framework based on remote sensing data is proposed for the MOLAND model. Structural land-use information was first inferred from the available medium resolution satellite images by applying supervised classification at the level of predefined regions using metrics that describe the distribution of sub-pixel estimations of artificial sealed surfaces. The resulting maps were compared to the model output with a selected set of spatial metrics. Based on this comparison, the model was recalibrated according to five scenario's. While the selected metrics generally demonstrated a low sensitivity to changes in model parameters, some improvement was nevertheless noted for one particular scenario.

The Impact of Data Time Span on Forecast Accuracy through Calibrating the SLEUTH Urban Growth Model

International Journal of Applied Geospatial Research, 2014

Does the spacing of time intervals used for model input data have an impact on the model's subsequent calibration and so projections of land use change and urban growth? This study evaluated the performance of the SLEUTH urban growth and land use change model through two independent model calibrations with different temporal extents (1972 to 2006 vs. 2000 to 2006) for the historical Italian cities of Pisa Province and their surroundings. The goal in performing two calibrations was to investigate the sensitivity of SLEUTH forecasts to longer or shorter calibration timelines, that is does calibrating the model over a longer time period produce better model fits and therefore forecasts? The best fit parameters from each calibration were then used in forecasting urban growth in the area up to the year 2027. The authors findings show that the spatial growth estimated by the model was strongly influenced by the physical landscape and road networks. The forecast outputs over 100 Monte ...

A review of current calibration and validation practices in land-change modeling

Environmental Modelling & Software, 2016

Land-change models are increasingly used to explore land-change dynamics, as well as for policy analyses and scenario studies. In this paper we review calibration and validation approaches adopted for recently published applications of land-change models. We found that statistical analyses and automated procedures are the two most common calibration approaches, while expert knowledge, manual calibration, and transfer of parameters from other applications are less frequently used. Validation of model results is predominantly based on locational accuracy assessment, while a small fraction of the applications assessed the accuracy of the generated land-use or land-cover patterns. Of the reviewed model applications, thirty-one percent did not report any validation. We argue that to mature as a scientific tool, and to gain credibility for scenario studies and policy assessments, the validation of land-change models requires consideration of challenges posed by uncertainty, complexity, and non-stationarity of landchange processes, and equifinality and multifinality of land-change models.

Impacts of Spatial Extend and Site Location on Calibration of Urban Growth Models

During the last decades, cities in sub-saharan Africa have undergone rapid urban growth due to increased population growth and high economic activities. This research explores the impacts of varying modelling settings including spatial extend and its location for the city of Nairobi using a cellular automata (CA) urban growth model (UGM). Our UGM used multi-temporal satellite-based data for classification of urban land-use of 1986, 2000 and 2010, road data, slope data and exclusion layer. Monte-Carlo technique was used for model calibration and Multi Resolution Validation (MRV) technique for validation. Simulation of urban land-use was done up to the year 2030 when Kenya plans to attain Vision 2030. Three spatial grid sizes varying in extent and location were applied in the UGM calibration and validation. Thus, this research explored the impacts of varying spatial extent (grid) and location on urban growth modelling and hence can contribute to an improved sustainable planning and development. This is useful for future planning as the Nairobi grows and expands into the peri-urban areas.