Advances in Spatial Environmental Modeling: Application of Machine Learning Methods to Spatial Interpolation of Environmental Variables  

Authors / CoAuthors

Li, J. | Heap, A.D. | Potter, A. | Daniell, J.J.

Abstract

Machine learning methods, like random forest (RF), have shown their superior performance in various disciplines, but have not been previously applied to the spatial interpolation of environmental variables. In this study, we compared the performance of 23 methods, including RF, support vector machine (SVM), ordinary kriging (OK), inverse distance squared (IDS), and their combinations (i.e., RFOK, RFIDS, SVMOK and SVMIDS), using mud content samples in the southwest Australian margin. We also tested the sensitivity of the combined methods to input variables and the accuracy of averaging predictions of the most accurate methods. The accuracy of the methods was assessed using a 10-fold cross-validation. The spatial patterns of the predictions of the most accurate methods were also visually examined for their validity. This study confirmed the effectiveness of RF, especially its combination with OK or IDS, and also confirmed the sensitivity of RF and its combined methods to the input variables. Averaging the predictions of the most accurate methods showed no significant improvement in the predictive accuracy. Visual examination proved to be an essential step in assessing the spatial predictions. This study has opened an alternative source of methods for spatial interpolation of environmental properties.

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nonGeographicDataset

eCat Id

71288

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Keywords

• External Publication

( Theme )

• data

( Theme )

• environmental

( Theme )

• model

( Theme )

• numerical modelling

( Theme )

• marine

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)

• Earth Sciences

• Published_Internal

Publication Date

2010-11-15T00:00:00

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Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem    

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence    

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geoscientificInformation

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Spatial Resolution

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