Geography
Document Type
Article
Abstract
This manuscript provides guidance concerning how to use the Total Operating Characteristic (TOC) when (1) analyzing change through time, (2) ranking a categorical independent variable, and (3) constraining the extent for a gaining category. The illustrative variable is the marsh land-cover category in the Plum Island Ecosystems of northeastern Massachusetts, USA. The data are an elevation map and maps showing the land categories of water, marsh, and upland in 1938, 1971, and 2013. There were losses and gains near the edge of the marsh between 1938 and 1972 and between 1972 and 2013. The TOC curves show that marsh gained most intensively at intermediate elevations during the first time interval and then had a weaker association with elevation during the second time interval. Marsh gains more intensively from water than from upland during both time intervals. The TOC curves also demonstrate that the marsh gains occurred where marsh was previously lost, a phenomenon called Alternation. Furthermore, eliminating far distances and extreme elevations from the spatial extent decreased the area under the curve (AUC) for distance and increased the AUC for elevation. We invite scientists to use the TOC because the TOC is easier to interpret and shows more information than the Relative Operative Characteristic.
Publication Title
Land
Publication Date
8-2024
Volume
13
Issue
8
ISSN
2073-445X
DOI
10.3390/land13081177
Keywords
alternation, AUC, land change, marsh, TOC
Repository Citation
Bilintoh, Thomas Mumuni; Pontius, Robert Gilmore; and Liu, Zhen, "Analyzing the Losses and Gains of a Land Category: Insights from the Total Operating Characteristic" (2024). Geography. 988.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_geography/988
Cross Post Location
Student Publications
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright Conditions
Publisher source must be acknowledged with citation: Bilintoh, T. M., Pontius Jr, R. G., & Liu, Z. (2024). Analyzing the Losses and Gains of a Land Category: Insights from the Total Operating Characteristic. Land, 13(8), 1177.
