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LAND EVALUATION SYSTEM USING REMOTE SENSING 
DATA FOR AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT 
Hussain Ahmed Younes 
A.Gad 
National Research Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences 
101 Kasr EI-Eni Street 
Cairo, Egypt 
ISPRS Commission VII / Working Group 3 
ABSTRACT 
A 3-step land evaluation system using satellite thematic (TM) data was applied for regional assessment of 
agricultural development in the western fringes of Middle Egypt. In the first step, visual interpretation of 
aerial photographs and satellite images was followed and resulted in different thematic maps on which land 
evaluation was based. In the second step, land evaluation was performed by applying digital image analysis. 
A number of four thematic maps originating from satellite data using unsupervised method were analysed. 
PATTERN (Planning Assistance Through Technical Evaluation of Relevant Numbers) method was utilized 
for the combination of these themes. The third step is a synthesized land evaluation procedure. Thematic 
maps based on existing ground truth were overlaid with maps originating from remote sensing images to 
evaluate the suitability of land for agricultural development using the PATTERN method. Results of the 
analysis were presented in evaluation maps with 6 suitability classes. 
The proposed 3-step land evaluation system using PATTERN methodology proved to be useful for land 
selection in agricultural development in areas lacking ground truth. It provides different procedures to 
evaluate the soil natural resources depending on available data and techniques. 
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