ASSESSING MODIFIABLE AREAL UNIT PROBLEM IN THE ANALYSIS OF DEFORESTATION DRIVERS USING REMOTE SENSING AND CENSUS DATA

In order to identify drivers of land use / land cover change (LUCC), the rate of change is often compared with environmental and socio-economic variables such as slope, soil suitability or population density. Socio-economic information is obtained from census data which are collected for individual...

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Main Authors: J. F. Mas, A. Pérez Vega, A. Andablo Reyes, M. A. Castillo Santiago, A. Flamenco Sandoval
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2015-08-01
Series:The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences
Online Access:http://www.int-arch-photogramm-remote-sens-spatial-inf-sci.net/XL-3-W3/77/2015/isprsarchives-XL-3-W3-77-2015.pdf
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author J. F. Mas
A. Pérez Vega
A. Andablo Reyes
M. A. Castillo Santiago
A. Flamenco Sandoval
author_facet J. F. Mas
A. Pérez Vega
A. Andablo Reyes
M. A. Castillo Santiago
A. Flamenco Sandoval
author_sort J. F. Mas
collection DOAJ
description In order to identify drivers of land use / land cover change (LUCC), the rate of change is often compared with environmental and socio-economic variables such as slope, soil suitability or population density. Socio-economic information is obtained from census data which are collected for individual households but are commonly presented in aggregate on the basis of geographical units as municipalities. However, a common problem, known as the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP), is that the results of statistical analysis are not independent of the scale and the spatial configuration of the units used to aggregate the information. In this article, we evaluate how strong MAUP effects are for a study on the deforestation drivers in Mexico at municipality level. This was done by taking socio-economic variables from the 2010 Census of Mexico along with environmental variables and the rate of deforestation. As population census is given for each human settlement and environmental variables are obtained from high resolution spatial database, it was possible to aggregate the information using spatial units (”pseudo municipalities”) with different sizes in order to observe the effect of scale and aggregation on the values of bivariate correlations (Pearsons r) between pairs of variables. We found that MAUP produces variations in the results, and we observed some variable pairs and some configurations of the spatial units where the effect was substantial.
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spelling doaj.art-6f6bba54366141019a1278ac12abe12b2022-12-21T18:51:57ZengCopernicus PublicationsThe International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences1682-17502194-90342015-08-01XL-3/W3778010.5194/isprsarchives-XL-3-W3-77-2015ASSESSING MODIFIABLE AREAL UNIT PROBLEM IN THE ANALYSIS OF DEFORESTATION DRIVERS USING REMOTE SENSING AND CENSUS DATAJ. F. Mas0A. Pérez Vega1A. Andablo Reyes2M. A. Castillo Santiago3A. Flamenco Sandoval4Centro de Investigaciones en Geografía Ambiental, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoUniversidad de Guanajuato, 4500 Guanajuato, MexicoCentro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo, 83304 Hermosillo, MexicoEl Colegio de la Frontera Sur, San Cristobal de las Casas, MexicoCentro de Investigaciones en Geografía Ambiental, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoIn order to identify drivers of land use / land cover change (LUCC), the rate of change is often compared with environmental and socio-economic variables such as slope, soil suitability or population density. Socio-economic information is obtained from census data which are collected for individual households but are commonly presented in aggregate on the basis of geographical units as municipalities. However, a common problem, known as the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP), is that the results of statistical analysis are not independent of the scale and the spatial configuration of the units used to aggregate the information. In this article, we evaluate how strong MAUP effects are for a study on the deforestation drivers in Mexico at municipality level. This was done by taking socio-economic variables from the 2010 Census of Mexico along with environmental variables and the rate of deforestation. As population census is given for each human settlement and environmental variables are obtained from high resolution spatial database, it was possible to aggregate the information using spatial units (”pseudo municipalities”) with different sizes in order to observe the effect of scale and aggregation on the values of bivariate correlations (Pearsons r) between pairs of variables. We found that MAUP produces variations in the results, and we observed some variable pairs and some configurations of the spatial units where the effect was substantial.http://www.int-arch-photogramm-remote-sens-spatial-inf-sci.net/XL-3-W3/77/2015/isprsarchives-XL-3-W3-77-2015.pdf
spellingShingle J. F. Mas
A. Pérez Vega
A. Andablo Reyes
M. A. Castillo Santiago
A. Flamenco Sandoval
ASSESSING MODIFIABLE AREAL UNIT PROBLEM IN THE ANALYSIS OF DEFORESTATION DRIVERS USING REMOTE SENSING AND CENSUS DATA
The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences
title ASSESSING MODIFIABLE AREAL UNIT PROBLEM IN THE ANALYSIS OF DEFORESTATION DRIVERS USING REMOTE SENSING AND CENSUS DATA
title_full ASSESSING MODIFIABLE AREAL UNIT PROBLEM IN THE ANALYSIS OF DEFORESTATION DRIVERS USING REMOTE SENSING AND CENSUS DATA
title_fullStr ASSESSING MODIFIABLE AREAL UNIT PROBLEM IN THE ANALYSIS OF DEFORESTATION DRIVERS USING REMOTE SENSING AND CENSUS DATA
title_full_unstemmed ASSESSING MODIFIABLE AREAL UNIT PROBLEM IN THE ANALYSIS OF DEFORESTATION DRIVERS USING REMOTE SENSING AND CENSUS DATA
title_short ASSESSING MODIFIABLE AREAL UNIT PROBLEM IN THE ANALYSIS OF DEFORESTATION DRIVERS USING REMOTE SENSING AND CENSUS DATA
title_sort assessing modifiable areal unit problem in the analysis of deforestation drivers using remote sensing and census data
url http://www.int-arch-photogramm-remote-sens-spatial-inf-sci.net/XL-3-W3/77/2015/isprsarchives-XL-3-W3-77-2015.pdf
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