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WOOD AND 
Symposium on Remote Sensing for Resources Development and Environmental Management / Enschede / August 1986 
Visual interpretation of MSS-FCC manual cartographic 
integration of data 
E.Amamoo-Otchere 
EC A Regional Centre for Training in Aerial Surveys, Ile-Ife, Oyo State, Nigeria 
ABSTRACT: The objective was to use the holistic and synoptic dualities o f Landsat 2 MSS-FCC taken in 1975 
to re-organize from an existing stock of scattered data, a relevant description of aspects of renewable 
resources development situation in which the fiscal decision makers and development planners have shown keen 
interest. The Cartographic projection from the FCC interpretation was to illustrate the kind of information 
obtainable with simple techniques, but which data has so much been in short supply in the African resources 
development arena. The study purposefully selected "frontier development" problem because it is an 
important development issue in Ghana. The themes chosen and visually interpreted from the FCC, and the manual 
cartographic integration of the information illustrate some aspects of the ways for closincr the co-ooeration 
gap between mapping authorities and the national fiscal authorities. The latter, because of partly tight 
money situation and partly for lack of appreciation of the role of manning, usually accord low priority to 
the former's needs. The study area was in northern Ghana. 
RESUME : L'objectif était d'utiliser les qualités holistiques et synoptiques des MSS-FCC des Landsat 2, prises 
en 1975 pour réaranger, à partir des données éparses, une description des aspects de la situation des 
ressources de. développement renouvables qui intéressent grandement les organismes de décision fiscale dans 
la planification du développement. La projection cartoqraphique à partir de l'interprétation F.C.C. devait 
illustrer le genre d'information disponible à partir de techniques simples mais dont les données sont très 
rares dans l'arène Africaine des ressources de développement. L'étude a choisi intentionnellement le 
problème des "frontières du développement" parce que c'est, une question très importante du développement 
au Ghana. Les thèmes choisis et interprétés visuellement à partir des RCC • et l'inte gration manuelle 
cartographique de l'information devaient accentuer le fait que les imageries des satellites offrent actuel 
lement la possibilité de boucher le trou qui existe entre les autorités de la cartographie et les autorités 
fiscales nationales qui, à cause des finances très sérrées d'une part, et à cause d'un manque d'appréciation 
du rôle de la Carotographie, d’autre part, accordent une faible priorité aux besoins de cette dernière. 
La zone étudiée se trouve dans le nord du Ghana. 
BACKGROUND ISSUER 
The mapping situation in Africa has been reviewed in 
various ways vis aviz those of other developing 
countries. In most of the reviews the low status 
accorded to manning has been emphasized. In Atkin 
son ' s- review (1982) the tight money situation and 
mapping as an enterprise without immediate financial 
return, have induced fiscal authorities to olace 
low priority on mapping as far as scarce resource 
allocation is concerned. Yet maps have their cataly 
tic effect on development. As it was observed by 
de Hensler (1982), the main sources of haphazard 
planning encountered too often in developing count 
ries could be traced directly to the lack of adequa 
te mapnina. in his analysis of the situation de 
Hensler saw of it as a number one problem, how to 
communicate on cartoqraphic matters with the govem- 
ment authorities who hold the keys to the financial 
aspects of resource allocation for development. 
While he thought that cartographers "need not hide 
behind a theodolite, a plotting instrument or remain 
hunched over a scribing plot", this paper holds the 
view that, speaking out on the importance of their 
work, cartographers have to make their workmanships 
speak for themselves. Perhaps closincr the communi 
cation gap between mapping administrators and the 
fiscal authorities, mapping has to some extent 
simplify its technicrues of presenting to decision 
makers the issues of the marient according to how 
the fiscal authorities also see them in relation to 
their programmes for econanic recovery. These 
development issues range over land based economic 
and socio-ecological key variables that are very 
relevant to the environment and its associated 
development. 
If thematic manning of the resources and the environ 
ment should be stepped up to reflect as a mirror in 
viiich the decision makers in particular, and the land 
users in general, could visualize spatial patterns of 
their activities in the landscape, such a mirror 
could possiblv attract the necessary public atten 
tion unto mapping, its needs and role in the 
society, This study, looking at the aero survei 
llance technology situation and at the elasticity 
of the resultant satellite products, has experimen 
ted with verv rudimentary technioues o f visual inter 
pretation and. manual cartographic integration °f 
the data, to present just a few of the "stories" 
that fiscal and planning authorities would like to 
hear. In doing this, the study has believed that 
unless cartographers will assume the role of Shake- 
spear's M ark Anthony, not onlv in showing the dead 
body of Caesar but also his "patchment" and beyond 
even that, read the contents of the "patchment" in 
public, not much can be done to charae the public, 
visual impression and concrete evidence of the lands 
cape could attract the necessary attention. The 
problem, there f ore partly lies in how to select and 
present through cartographic medium those very 
relevant development issues which are the stories 
fiscal decision makers are likely to give ears to. 
The studv selected purposefully a rather politically 
loaded environmental and resource development issue 
to apply the visual interpretation and the associa 
ted manual cartographic data integration to. The 
issue was that of land development in the frontiers 
of Ghana. 
Frontiers by definition are areas characterized by 
remoteness, harsh physical environment, relative 
backwardness and underpooulation.