Modeling Urban Growth Using GIS and Remote Sensing

Based on remote sensing and GIS, this study models the spatial variations of urban growth patterns with a logistic geographically weighted regression (GWR) technique. Through a case study of Springfield, Missouri, the research employs both global and local logistic regression to model the probability of urban land expansion against a set of spatial and socioeconomic variables. The logistic GWR model significantly improves the global logistic regression model in three ways: (1) the local model has higher PCP (percentage correctly predicted) than the global model; (2) the local model has a smaller residual than the global model; and (3) residuals of the local model have less spatial dependence. More importantly, the local estimates of parameters enable us to investigate spatial variations in the influences of driving factors on urban growth. Based on parameter estimates of logistic GWR and using the inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation method, we generate a set of parameter surfaces to reveal the spatial variations of urban land expansion. The geographically weighted local analysis correctly reveals that urban growth in Springfield, Missouri is more a result of infrastructure construction, and an urban sprawl trend is observed from 1992 to 2005.