Modelling environmental dynamics is critical to understanding and predicting the evolution of the environment in response to the large number of influences including urbanisation, climate change and deforestation. Simulation and modelling provide support for decision making in environmental management. The first chapter introduces terminology and provides an overview of methodological modelling approaches which may be applied to environmental and complex dynamics. Based on this introduction this book illustrates various models applied to a large variety of themes: deforestation in tropical regions, fire risk, natural reforestation in European mountains, agriculture, biodiversity, urbanism, climate change and land management for decision support, etc. These case studies, provided by a large international spectrum of researchers and presented in a uniform structure, focus particularly on methods and model validation so that this book is not only aimed at researchers and graduates but also at professionals.

This book provides a detailed overview of the concepts, techniques, applications, and methodological approaches involved in land use and cover change (LUCC) modeling, also known simply as land change modeling. More than 40 international experts in this field have participated in this book, which illustrates recent advances in LUCC modeling with examples from North and South America, the Middle East, and Europe. Given the broad range of geomatic approaches available, it helps readers select the approach that best meets their needs. The book is structured into five parts preceded by a foreword written by Roger White and a general introduction. Part I consists of four chapters, each of which focuses on a specific stage in the modeling process: calibration, simulation, validation, and scenarios. It presents and explains the fundamental ideas and concepts underlying LUCC modeling. This is complemented by a comparative analysis of the selected software packages, practically applied in various case studies in Part II and Part III. Part II discusses recently proposed methodological developments that have enhanced modeling procedures and results while Part III offers case studies as well as interesting, innovative methodological proposals. Part IV revises different fundamental techniques used in LUCC modeling and finally Part V describes the best-known software packages used in the applications presented in Parts II and III.

This open access book represents a comprehensive review of available land-use cover data and techniques to validate and analyze this type of spatial information. The book provides the basic theory needed to understand the progress of LUCC mapping/modeling validation practice. It makes accessible to any interested user most of the research community's methods and techniques to validate LUC maps and models. Besides, this book is enriched with practical exercises to be applied with QGIS. The book includes a description of relevant global and supra-national LUC datasets currently available. Finally, the book provides the user with all the information required to manage and download these datasets.