Abstract
The primary role of remote sensing in land management and planning has been to provide information concerning the physical characteristics of the land which influence the management of individual land parcels or the allocation of lands to various uses These physical characteristics have typically been assessed through aerial photography, which is used to develop resource maps and to monitor changing environmental conditions These uses are well developed and currently well integrated into the planning infrastructure at local, state, and federal levels in the United States.
Many newly emerging uses of remote sensing involve digital images which are collected, stored, and processed automatically by electromechanical scanning devices and electronic computers Some scanning devices operate from aircraft or spacecraft to scan ground scenes directly; others scan conventional aerial transparencies to yield digital images. Digital imagery offers the potential for computer-based automated map production, a process that can significantly increase the amount and timeliness of information available to land managers and planners.
Future uses of remote sensing in land planning and management will involve geographic information systems, which store resource information in a geocoded format. Geographic information systems allow the automated integration of disparate types of resource data through various types of spatial models so that with accompanying sample ground data, information in the form of thematic maps and/ or aerially aggregated statistics can be produced Key issues confronting the development and integration of geographic information systems into planning pathways are restoration and rectification of digital images, automated techniques for combining both quantitative and qualitative types of data in information-extracting procedures, and the compatibility of alternative data storage modes
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature cited
Anderson, A. T. 1980. Evaluating the environmental effects of past and present surface mining: A remote sensing applied research review. Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, pp. 275–278.
Anderson, J. R. 1980. Land resource planning applications of land use mapping and inventory from remotely sensed data. Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, pp. 429–443.
Anderson, J. R., 1976. A land use and land cover classification system for use with remote sensor data, Geological Survey Professional Paper 964, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
Blazques, C, and G. Edwards. 1979. Aerial photographic surveillance of tree health in a citrus grove. Proceedings of the 7th Biennial Workshop on Color Aerial Photography in the Plant Sciences, pp. 209–220.
Cicone, R. C, W. A. Malila, and E.P. Crist. 1977. Investigation of techniques for inventorying forested regions. Final report: Vol. II. Forestry information and systems requirements and joint use of remotely sensed and ancillary data. NAS-CR-ERIM 122700-35-F2. 146 pp.
Dipaolo, William D. 1979. Application of Landsat data for resource inventories on federal lands in the western United States. Proceedings, 1979 Machine Processing of Remotely Sensed Data Symposium, p. 433.
Estes, J. E. 1977. A perspective on the state of the art of photographic interpretation. Proceedings of the Eleventh International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, pp. 161–177.
Fitzgerald, G. 1979. U.S.G.S. mapping: A historical review.Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 45(12): 1601–1605.
The Georgia Resource Assessment Program Newsletter. April 1978. Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Office of Planning and Research, Resource Planning Section.
Hagen, W. W. 1979. Observations on U.S.G.S.-state cooperative mapping.Photogramm. Eng. Remote Sensing 45(12): 1617–1620.
Haralick, R. M. 1979. Statistical and structural approaches to texture.Proc. IEEE 67(5): 786–804.
Idso, S. B., R. D. Jackson, and R. J. Reginato. 1975. Detection of soil moisture by remote surveillance.Am Sci. 63(5): 549–557.
MacDonald, R. B., and F. G. Hall. 1980. Global crop forecasting.Science 208(4445): 670–679.
Quinn, Alfred O. 1979. A century of progress in U.S.G.S. mapping: Introduction.Photogramm. Eng. Remote Sensing 45(12): 1595–1597.
Seevers, P. M. 1979. Practical application and physiological relationships of color infrared photography relative to monitoring agricultural crops. Proceedings of the Seventh Biennial Workshop on Color Aerial Photography in the Plant Sciences, pp. 201–208.
Shelton, R. L., and J. E. Estes. 1981. Remote sensing and geographic information systems: An unrealized potential.Geoprocessing 1: 395–420.
Slaughter, A. E. 1979. Historians note.State Geol. J. 31: 1.
Stow, D. A., L. Tinney, and J. E. Estes. 1980. Deriving land use/land cover change statistics from Landsat: A study of prime agricultural land. Proceedings of the 14th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, pp. 1227–1235.
Strahler, A. H., J. E. Estes, P. F. Maynard, F. C. Mertz, and D. A. Stow. 1980. Incorporating collateral data in Landsat classification and modeling procedures. Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Symposium on Remote Sensing of the Environment, pp. 1009–1026.
Strahler, A. H. 1981. Stratification of natural vegetation for forest and rangeland inventory using Landsat digital imagery and collateral data.Int. J. Remote Sensing 2(1): 15–41.
Thorley, G. A. 1975. Forest lands: Inventory and assessment.In Manual of Remote Sensing, v. 2, Reeves, R. G., A. Anson, D. Landen (eds) pp. 1353–1426. American Society of Photogrammetry. Fall church Va.
Wildman, W. E. 1979. Color infrared. A valuable tool in vineyard management. Precedings of the Seventh Biennial Workshop on Aerial Photography in the Plant Sciences. pp. 229–243.
Woodcock, C. E., A. H. Strahler, and T. L. Logan. 1980. Stratification of forest vegetation for timber inventory using Landsat and collateral data. Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, pp. 1769–1787.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Woodcock, C.E., Strahler, A.H. & Franklin, J. Remote sensing for land management and planning. Environmental Management 7, 223–237 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01871537
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01871537