Structural uncertainty and uncertainty management in four common Land Use Cover Change (LUCC) model software packages. A comparison

Research on the uncertainty of Land Use Cover Change (LUCC) models is still limited. Through this paper, we aim to globally characterize the structural uncertainty of four common software packages (CA_Markov, Dinamica EGO, Land Change Modeler, Metronamica) and analyse the options that they offer for uncertainty management.The models have been compared qualitatively, based on their structures and tools, and quantitatively, through a study case for the city of Cape Town. Results proved how each model conceptualised the modelled system in a different way, which led to different outputs. Statistical or automatic approaches did not prove to be more successful that user-driven approaches. The available options for uncertainty management vary depending on the model. No model pays enough attention to the communication of uncertainties.