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Issue Int. J. Simul. Multi. Design Optim.
Volume 3, Number 2, April 2009
Page(s) 342 - 346
DOI 10.1051/ijsmdo/2009009
Published online 24 June 2009

Int. J. Simul. Multidisci. Des. Optim. 3, 342-346 (2009)
DOI: 10.1051/ijsmdo/2009009

A simple polygon-polygon basis method to compare categorical raster maps

Celestino Ordóñez1, José M. Matías2, Javier Taboada2 and Teresa Rivas1

1  Dept. Natural Resources and Environmental Engineering, University of Vigo, 36310, Vigo, Spain
2  Dept. of Statistics, University of Vigo, 36310, Vigo, Spain


Received 20 September 2008, Accepted 12 March 2009; published online 24 June 2009

Abstract
In this paper we present a method for comparing categorical raster maps based on comparing categories at the polygon level. In contrast with the most commonly used pixel-level methods of comparison, the proposed method reduces both possible map registration errors and errors resulting from the uncertainty associated with defining the boundaries of each category. The results are presented visually as a map which shows the degree of fit between the compared maps, and analytically as an overall agreement index varying between 0 and 1 and by a fuzzy kappa index. The methodology is illustrated by two examples: the first compares two synthetic maps which were generated specifically to demonstrate the validity of the method, and the second example analyses the use of the method to detect changes over time in two real land-use maps which were made in different years.



Key words: raster model -- map comparison -- categorical data -- fuzzy kappa

Correspondence: cgalan@uvigo.es


© ASMDO 2009


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