The SLEUTH Land Use Change Model: A Review

SLEUTH is a cellular automata (CA) model that has been successfully applied worldwide over the last 15 years to simulate land use change. The objective of this paper is to review the current status of the SLEUTH land use change model. Clarke et al. (2007) and Clarke (2008a) provided detailed reviews of the model and its application from its initial days until about 2005. This paper brings the debates, modifications and applications of the model up to date, and provides a brief discussion of past SLEUTH applications. We next highlight the technical modifications published after 2005 and provide a detailed review of applications published until 2012. Structurally, first this paper presents a brief history and description of the SLEUTH model, and then reviews the recent successful technical modifications and applications.