Glasnik Sumarskog fakulteta 2013 Issue 108, Pages: 7-24
https://doi.org/10.2298/GSF1308007V
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Estimation of flow accumulation uncertainty by Monte Carlo stochastic simulations
Višnjevac Nenad (Građevinski fakultet, Institut za geodeziju i geoinformatiku, Beograd)
Cvijetinović Željko
(Građevinski fakultet, Institut za geodeziju i geoinformatiku, Beograd)
Bajat Branislav
(Građevinski fakultet, Institut za geodeziju i geoinformatiku, Beograd)
Radić Boris (Šumarski fakultet, Beograd)
Ristić Ratko
(Šumarski fakultet, Beograd)
Milčanović Vukašin (Šumarski fakultet, Beograd)
Very often, outputs provided by GIS functions and analysis are assumed as
exact results. However, they are influenced by certain uncertainty which may
affect the decisions based on those results. It is very complex and almost
impossible to calculate that uncertainty using classical mathematical models
because of very complex algorithms that are used in GIS analyses. In this
paper we discuss an alternative method, i.e. the use of stochastic Monte
Carlo simulations to estimate the uncertainty of flow accumulation. The case
study area included the broader area of the Municipality of Čačak, where
Monte Carlo stochastic simulations were applied in order to create one
hundred possible outputs of flow accumulation. A statistical analysis was
performed on the basis of these versions, and the "most likely" version of
flow accumulation in association with its confidence bounds (standard
deviation) was created. Further, this paper describes the most important
phases in the process of estimating uncertainty, such as variogram modelling
and chooses the right number of simulations. Finally, it makes suggestions on
how to effectively use and discuss the results and their practical
significance.
Keywords: uncertainty, flow accumulation, stochastic simulations