Validation and Demonstration of the Prescott Spatial Growth Model in Metropolitan Atlanta Georgia

摘要

This paper provides results on the performance of the Prescott Spatial Growth Model to project land use in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Prescott Spatial Growth Model is a tool that can be applied at fine or coarse spatial scales and can accommodate a wide range of user inputs to develop any number of growth rules for projecting land use. "Blind" simulations and "guided" simulations for the Atlanta region were performed for the 1980-2000 period to evaluate the performance of the model in the quantity and spatial distribution of urban growth. Quantitative comparisons of both the blind and guided simulations with actual land use were used to assess the model's performance. The error in the quantity of land-use classes projected and the spatial arrangement of the classes was assessed. The model provides exceptional flexibility and good overall performance in projecting land use in this study.