@ARTICLE{M. Arabi, author = {M. Arabi, and A. Soffianian, and M. Tarkesh Esfahani, and }, title = {Determination of Spatial Distribution Pattern of Zn in Surface Soils of Hamadan Province Using Classification and Regression Tree Model}, volume = {17}, number = {63}, abstract ={Physicochemical characteristics of soil, land cover/use and human activities have effects on heavy metals distribution. In this study, we applied Classification and Regression Tree model (CART) to predict the spatial distribution of zinc in surface soil of Hamadan province under Geographic Information System environment. Two approaches were used to build the model. In the first approach, 10% of total data were randomly selected as test data and residual data were used for building model. In the second approach, all data were used to build and evaluate the CART model. Determination coefficient (R2) and Mean Square Error (MSE) were applied to estimate the accuracy of model. Final model included 51 nodes and 26 terminal nodes (leaf). Calcium carbonate, slope, sand, silt and land use/cover were determined by the CART model to predict spatial distribution of Zn as the most important independent variables. The regions of western Hamadan province had the highest concentration of Zn whereas the lowest concentration of Zn occurred in the regions of northern Hamadan province. The results indicate good accuracy of CART model using R2 and MSE indices. }, URL = {http://jstnar.iut.ac.ir/article-1-2555-en.html}, eprint = {http://jstnar.iut.ac.ir/article-1-2555-en.pdf}, journal = {Journal of Water and Soil Science}, doi = {}, year = {2013} }