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Land Use/Land Cover Monitoring and Geospatial Technologies: An Overview

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Advances in Watershed Science and Assessment

Part of the book series: The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry ((HEC,volume 33))

Abstract

Accurate and detailed land use and land cover information forms an important resource for hydrologic analysis; remote sensing forms a critical resource for acquiring and analyzing broad-scale land use information. Although aerial photography is an important resource for land use information, it was the availability of multispectral satellite data beginning in 1972 that significantly advanced the ability of remote sensing researchers to systematically monitor and evaluate land use/land cover changes and their impacts on water quality and quantity. In that context, practitioners developed classification schemes specifically tailored for use with remotely sensed imagery and for systematic assessment of land use change. Since then, land observation technologies have evolved to allow extensive and intricate land use monitoring techniques, and now, in the twenty-first century, include the use of lasers for 3-D analyses and unmanned aerial systems. Such technologies have enabled land use assessment to contribute not only to its original focus in urban and regional planning but to a broad range of environmental and social issues. This chapter provides an overview of remote sensing, its technological evolution, and remote sensing applications in land use and land cover mapping and monitoring, with a focus upon implications for watershed assessment and management.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    All wavelength ranges discussed within this chapter are approximations. Different disciplines define the specific divisions of the electromagnetic spectrum in various wavelengths. Most definitions are extremely close in value.

  2. 2.

    The number of bands of an image refers to how many divisions of the electromagnetic spectrum were used to create that image. For the exact electromagnetic spectral divisions for each band, you must refer to the metadata that accompanies the image.

  3. 3.

    Georeferencing means to define a specific location on the surface of the Earth for an image, usually with a specific geographic coordinate system.

  4. 4.

    A mixed pixel means that more than one land use/land cover type is present within the spatial extent of the pixel; as such the spectral value cannot be matched to one specific feature.

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Acknowledgement

We thank Dr. Valerie Thomas, Virginia Tech, Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Blacksburg, Virginia, for providing the Lidar data mentioned in Sect. 6.1 Lidar.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    Tammy E. Parece & James B. Campbell

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  1. Tammy E. Parece
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  2. James B. Campbell
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Correspondence to Tammy E. Parece .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Cabel Brand Center for Global Poverty and Resources Sustainability Studies, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA

    Tamim Younos

  2. Department of Geography, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA

    Tammy E. Parece

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Parece, T.E., Campbell, J.B. (2015). Land Use/Land Cover Monitoring and Geospatial Technologies: An Overview. In: Younos, T., Parece, T. (eds) Advances in Watershed Science and Assessment. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 33. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14212-8_1

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