Meetings

Needs and Research Requirements for Land-Change Modeling - 07/25/12

Needs and Research Requirements for Land-Change Modeling: Meeting 1 - 10/17/11

Meeting 3: Needs and Research Requirements for Land-Change Modeling - 05/02/12

Needs and Research Requirements for Land-Change Modeling - 02/15/12

Statement of Task

A National Research Council committee will review the present status of spatially explicit land-change modeling approaches and describe future data and research needs so that model outputs can better assist the science, policy, and decision-support communities. Future needs for higher resolution and more accurate projections will require improved coupling of land-change models to climate, ecology, and biogeochemistry models; improved data inputs; improved validation of land-change models; and improved estimates of uncertainty associated with model outputs. The study will provide guidance on the verification strategies and data, and research requirements needed to enhance the next generation of models. In particular, the study committee will:

1. Assess the analytical capabilities and science and/or policy applications of existing modeling approaches.

2. Describe the theoretical and empirical basis and the major technical, research, and data development challenges associated with each modeling approach.

3. Describe opportunities for improved integration of land observation strategies (including ground-based survey, satellite, and remote sensing data) with land-change modeling to improve land-change model outputs to better fulfill scientific and decision making requirements.