- 1554 - 
of forest expanses. Trees may have lined a field border or transporta- 
tion artery but in the process enhanced that feature's detectability. 
In the Northeast the pervading forest cover virtually inundated the 
entire landscape. There was simply a reduction in observable contrast 
on the imagery and the interpreter had to rely on increasingly more 
subtle nuances. The importance of vegetation and the role of environ- 
ment per se on the visibility of land use pattern elements is summarized 
in Table II. 
Comparability of Land Use Classification 
Effects of environmental modulation were also examined employing 
Level I and Level II categories outlined by Anderson, et.al. 1976 
(Table I). Seven Level I categories were present in at least one of the 
study areas. (1) Urban or Built-up Land was detectable in both study 
areas but boundaries were more difficult to delimit in the Northeast owing 
to masking by vegetation. Small towns and villages were also more easily 
and consistently visible in the West and Midwest while similar settlements 
in the Northeast were not. (2) Agricultural Land was readily identifiable 
in Study Area II and could be delimited in Study Area I but with more 
difficulty. As described above, the latter area contained smaller, 
cluttered, and irregular shaped fields interspersed with forest. 
(3) Rangeland was extant only in Study Area II and identification proved 
facile. (4) Forest Land, although of different composition, was found 
in both study areas and easily identified by its unique tone and texture 
contrasts. (5) The black, no-return tone of water on radar imagery posed 
no identification problems with one minor exception. Care and judgement 
had to be exercised in delimiting some rivers in the Northeast to avoid 
confusion with radar shadow in steep-sloped river valleys. (6) Wetland 
was more easily identified in Study Area II owing to the absence of 
extensive forest vegetation and better contrast with the surrounding 
terrain. In both study areas, accuracy diminished as size approached 
the resolution of the imagery. (7) Barren Land per se was extant in 
Study Area II and in both study areas in the form of mining activities. 
A more specific discussion of this category is found below. 
The complexity of urban land use in combination with the rather 
coarse resolution of K-band radar imagery made consistent and precise 
identification at Level II extremely difficult and at times impossible. 
Residential Land could be identified in Study Area II and differentiated 
from downtown core activities. However, there were no large urban 
concentrations precluding analysis of Commercial and Services, Industrial, 
Mixed Urban, and Other Urban and Built-up Land. Only major transportation 
arterials were detectable. In Study Area I instances of Residential Land 
could be identified but not the extent. This was true of large as well 
as small urban areas. The presence of central business district and 
major commercial and services activities along arterials were manifest 
as light gray to white toned areas, but detection of all other urban 
functions including transportation, was dependent on the amount of 
forest vegetation. Regardless of the size of the city it was not possible 
to consistently detect and delimit urban land use categories in the 
Northeast. 
At Level II, Agricultural Land is divided into four categories: 
Cropland and Pasture; Orchards, Groves, Vineyards, Nurseries, and 
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