These scale variations enable to study the settle- 
ments in detail, but also to see the villages in 
the larger environmental framework and, by the 
synoptic view of the satellite images, to under- 
stand the spatial relationships. 
M 
M a“ 
x3" 
  
Fig. 1. Landsat 5 T.M. image (band 4) 04.11.1985. 
The Landsat T.M. image (fig.1) is depicting the 
northern part of Flanders, the transition zone be- 
tween the sandy area and the clayey flood plain of 
the Schelde river. The village of Verrebroek (A) is 
situated upon a sandy outcrop and is surrounded by 
the clayey polder area. The differences in spatial 
organisation, without seeing details, are clearly 
visible. 
On the vertical aerial photograph (fig. 2) the dif- 
ferences of the field patterns on the sandy outcrop 
and on the surrounding clayey flood plain are ob- 
vious. The village of Verrebroek looks as an island 
amid the polder area. 
2.2. Enhancement, photographic or digital, and fil- 
tering methods enable to make very clear some 
landscape elements and to eliminate the disturbing 
details. It became thus possible to extract, out of 
the enormous amount of information present in the 
image, the data which are important for the study 
purpose. On this filtered satellite image (fig. 3) 
only the linear features are visible. The general 
examination of the road- and hydrographic network 
and the shape and orientation of the field plots is 
thus possible. The sandy outcrop of Verrebroek ap- 
pears again as an island amid the polder area. 
114 
  
Fig. 2. Vertical aerial photograph (scale 1/10.000) 
of Verrebroek (M.0.W.) 
  
Fig. 3. Filtered satellite image.