ALTERNATIVES FOR LAND USE/COVER MAPPING IN THE TENNESSEE RIVER WATER SHED

Early in 1972, a work group-consisting of foresters, planners, hydrologists, wildlife biologists, computer experts, and engineers-was created to look into land use data collection, analysis, and presentation. Specifically, it looked into delineating land use data from high altitude aerial color infrared photography, for presentation at various scales including 1:24,000, 1:125,000, etc. It was found that presenting Level II detail in conformance with the U.S. Department of Interior sponsored classification system at a scale of 1:125,000 gives both the regional coverage an depth of detail desired by planners and resource managers. The total initial program cost for the state of Tennessee could be as low as $70,000 for photo positives of hand-delineated manuscripts to $150,000 for color litho maps for the same information (costs do not include imagery acquistion). It is the work groups' opinion that such a program creates a totally new mapping perspective for existing land use data, and that such base maps will be essential to indexing and monitoring land use changes, as well as planning for areas of critical environmental concern.