LAND - USE CLASSIFICATION SCHEMES

THE PROBLEM OF DEVELOPING LAND USE CLASSIFICATION SCHEMES FOR USE WITH ORBITAL IMAGERY FOR MAKING THEMATIC MAPS OF LAND USE IN THE U.S. RANGING FROM 1:250,000 TO 1:2,500,000 IN SCALE IS PRESENTED. SOME BACKGROUND ON APPROACHES TO LAND USE CLASSIFICATION BASED MAINLY ON AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS GIVES A PERSPECTIVE TO THE REVIEW OF RECENT ATTEMPTS TO DEVELOP CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS THAT WOULD BE USEABLE WITH IMAGERY FROM REMOTE SENSORS IN ORBITING SPACECRAFT. TO PROVIDE A FRAMEWORK FOR SUCH A REVIEW AND CLASSIFICATION, SEVERAL CRITERIA ARE PROPOSED. IT IS HOPED THAT THE REVIEW AND EVALUATION OF LAND USE MAPS PREPARED BY N.J. THROWER AND OTHERS AT U.C.L.A. FROM GEMINI TO APOLLO IMAGERY WILL DIRECT ATTENTION TO SOME OF THE SERIOUS PROBLEMS THAT MUST BE RESOLVED BEFORE EFFECTIVE CLASSIFICATION SCHEMES CAN BE DEVELOPED FOR USE WITH ORBITAL IMAGERY. RECOMMENDATIONS ARE PRESENTED AS GUIDELINES FOR FURTHER STUDY. TWO TENTATIVE LAND USE CLASSIFICATION SCHEMES ARE PROPOSED FOR FUTURE TESTING WITH ORBITAL IMAGERY. /AUTHOR/