Application of remote sensing in land use and land cover

1. Application of Remote Sensing in Land Use
and Land Cover

2. Introduction
Land Use and Land Cover
• Land-cover/land-use has become crucial basis work to carry the
prediction to the dynamical change of land use, prevention to
natural disaster, environment protection, land management and
planning.
• With rapid development of remote sensing technology, land-
cover/land-use classification has become the most credible, rapid
and effective measure to monitor the condition and changing of
land-cover/land use in the global surface.
• Land-cover emphasize particularly on its nature properties and it
is the synthetically reflection of various elements in global
surface covered with natural body or manual construction.

3.  Using remote sensing classification method, whatever used or
non/used covering object in surface can be used separated.
 Land-Use “Man’s activities and the various use which carried on
land”.
 E.g. Construction of buildings, agricultural lands, playgrounds
etc.
 Land-Cover “ Natural Vegetation, water bodies rock/soil etc,
resulting due to land transformations”.

4. • Land cover consisting- roofs, pavement, grass and trees.
• For a hydrologic study of rainfall-run off characteristics, it would be
important to know the amount and distribution of roofs, pavement,
grass and trees.
• Land-use is a process of turning natural ecosystem into social
ecosystem.
• The process is a complicated procedure by the synthetic effect from
nature, economy and society.
• The manner, degree, structure, area distributing and benefit of land-
use are not only affected by natural condition but also restricted by
diversified natural, economic and technologic condition.
• Land-use is the most direct and leading driving factor to the land-
cover change.

5. In carrying out research and application of the land-cover
and land-use remote sensing investigation, the uniform
classification system is usually built up which is
combining the two concepts, which is called Remote
Sensing Land-Cover/Land use classification .

6. • As an example, this image shows a situation in
which deforestation precedes road-building.
– It depicts in red several settlement roads in 1988;
– deforested areas, as of 1988, are shown by the yellow
polygons extending beyond the roads.
• Since the roads now pass through these old
deforested areas, the figure suggests reverse
causality, in which deforestation actually leads to
road-building.
– This situation is probably common in areas of
smallholder colonization.

8. USGS Classification System
• A Land Use And Land Cover Classification
System For Use With Remote Sensor Data
– By JAMES R. ANDERSON, ERNEST E. HARDY, JOHN
T. ROACH, and RICHARD E. WITMER
– Geological Survey Professional Paper 964
– A revision of the land use classification system as presented
in U.S. Geological Survey Circular 671

9. CLASSIFICATION CRITERIA
A land use and land cover classification system which can
effectively employ orbital and high-altitude remote sensor data
should meet the following criteria (Anderson, 1971):
• The minimum level of interpretation accuracy in the
identification of land use and land cover categories from remote
sensor data should be at least 85 percent.
• The accuracy of interpretation for the several categories should
be about equal.
• The classification system should be applicable over extensive
areas.
• The categorization should permit vegetation and other types of
land cover to be used as surrogates for activity.

10. • Aggregation of categories must be possible.
• Comparison with future land use data should be
possible.
• Multiple uses of land should be recognized when
possible.

11. USGS Classification System
Classification level Typical data
characteristics
• I LANDSAT (formerly ERTS) type of data
• II High-altitude data at 40,000 ft (12,400m) or
above (less than l:8O,OOO scale)
• III Medium-altitude data taken between
10,000 and 40,000 ft (3,100 and 12,400 m)
(1:20,000 to 1:80,000 scale)
• IV Low-altitude data taken below 10,000 ft
(3,100 m) (more than 1:20,000 scale)

12. SYMBOL OF TRUST