Introducing LandScaleR: A novel method for spatial downscaling of land use projections

Land use and land cover (LULC) projections do not always have sufficient spatial resolution to allow them to be used by environmental models that project how LULC impacts a range of variables, including ecosystem services, biodiversity, and hydrology. We present a downscaling method designed to generate the high resolution LULC projections often required for environmental modelling. LULC change is allocated to a high-resolution reference map based on the density of LULC classes in neighbouring grid cells. Increasing a parameter that controls the likelihood of cells adjacent to existing LULC classes being converted to the same class generated less spatially aggregated landscapes that better represented historic LULC patterns in Colombia between 1960 and 2019. This new downscaling method is available as an R package and will enable the reconciliation of the spatial resolution of LULC projections and key processes that are embedded in a range of environmental models.