Intensity and Stationarity Analysis of Land Use Change Based on CART Algorithm

Land use directly reflects degree of human development and utilization of land. Intensity analysis of land use is a quantitative method to analyze land use changes. In this paper, land use changes in Tianjin were studied using Thematic Mapper (TM) remote sensing images in 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010 and Operational Land Imager (OLI) remote sensing image in 2015. Land use information was extracted using decision tree classification method based on CART (Classification and Regression Trees) algorithm. This paper introduced land use intensity analysis to analyze its change intensity and stationarity, respectively at interval, category and transition levels. Based on the theory, new models were developed in the transition level to analyze land use change pattern. The analysis quantifies the contribution of a certain land categories to land use change during a specific time interval. The change of land use during 1995–2015 indicated that Tianjin experienced rapid urban development with the area of urban land increased by about 7.5%. This study provided a reference for the sustainable development of land use in Tianjin.