Accuracy Assessment of Gully Erosion Susceptibility Map Using SVM and MARS Methods in Shazand Watershed

Gully erosion found to be typical erosion form in semiarid and arid landscape. Because of the importance of this phenomenon, various studies have been conducted around the world to assess gully erosion and its effects. The purpose of this research was accuracy assessment of gully erosion susceptibility maps using SVM and MARS models in the Shazand watershed. Acquiring information about the gully erosion occurred in the study area was done. Locations of the gullies were specified using Landsat satellite images, google earth and field surveys. After gully erosion susceptibility mapping using mentioned models, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and area under the curve (AUC) were used to assess accuracy of these maps. The AUC for the SVM and MARS models obtained 0.781 and 0.697 respectively. Results of accuracy assessment show that accuracy of SVM and MARS models is located into the good and moderate class respectively. The research results can be a useful tool to manage natural resources and environment and also reduction of soil degradation.