Remote sensing input to geographic information systems

Abstract

Land planning in the United States is conducted by a bewildering array of federal, state and local officials, with the bulk of the responsibility resting at the local level. This fragmentation of responsibility has led to a multitude of approaches to the planning process with little attendant agreement on what the planning process should even involve. For the purposes of this book, the planning process will be viewed as ideally consisting of several steps. These include:

• 1. the establishment of long-term goals for the use of land resources;

• 2. the gathering of information about those resources;

• 3. the evaluation of alternative strategies for meeting long-term goals;

• 4. the designing of policies to meet these goals;

• 5. the adoption and implementation of these policies;

• 6. the monitoring and continuous reevaluation of these policies as a means of attaining, the long-term goals.