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

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.