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- 1553 - 
where only major arterials aligning commercial strips could be detected. 
Where relief was less extreme and forest typlified by scrub and regrowth 
more of the transportation network was detected. Although forest and 
topographic relief posed similar problems in the western portion of 
Study Area II the effect was not as dramatic owing somewhat to a less 
dense road/rail network and less vegetation. In the eastern half of 
Study Area II the transportation network was much more visible. The 
periodic, regular, grid network was easily detected on the radar imagery. 
Often lined by trees, roads also contrasted with the level to rolling 
terrain and cultivated fields. 
In summary, it is readily apparent that changes in physical and 
cultural land use components employed in other areas of the country were 
not only subtle and limited in number but less useful in the Northeast. 
Work in the West and Midwest indicated these parameters were indeed 
viable keys in assessing land use patterns. While such characteristics 
were still an asset to analysis,the effect of environmental modulation 
had markedly lessened their effectiveness. Several reasons attribute to 
this inconsistency. The individual elements of the Northeast landscape 
were much more fragmented and complex than the Midwest and West, and at 
the same time they were fewer in number. Consequently, there was so 
much "noise" and lack of continuity that only one or two major patterns 
emerged. The similarity of climate and available moisture over the 
region also tended to reduce variation in land use practices. Certainly 
the difference in time and length of settlement contributed to observed 
differences between areas. The Northeast was settled at a time when 
technology, machinery, and industry were more primitive than when the 
areas further west were developed. The lack of a uniform township and 
range grid pattern of land ownership and transportation location added 
another dimension to the Northeast's complexity. 
However, as important as these environmental conditions were in 
explaining inconsistencies it is suggested that forest vegetation was 
the overriding environmental factor contributing to the variation in 
amount of land use information available from radar imagery. In the 
Northeast study area stands of forest or woodland were found on virtually 
all land not cultivated or urbanized. Forests concealed many topographic 
elements. In more arid areas and those more extensively cultivated 
(Study Area II) riparian vegetation delineated much of the drainage 
network and surrounded wetlands. In the Northeast such vegetation simply 
merged with the surrounding forest. A lack of vegetation varieties com- 
pared to the West and the dominance of hardwood/softwood mixtures 
instead of detectable single specie or dominant specie stands produced 
only a single pattern unless detailed analysis were to be conducted by 
vegetation experts. Field sizes and shapes were somewhat affected by 
topography, but the presence of woodlots, scrub regrowth in abandoned 
fields, and lumbering activities interspersed with random-sized and 
shaped fields did not particularly add clarity. 
Settlement and transportation network visibility was also diminished 
by the presence of forests and trees. Settlements were concealed by 
tree canopy which also masked the street network and bright (high) signal 
return of many commercial activities. In the Midwest and West trees were 
characteristically concentrated around farmsteads as windbreaks or in 
urban residential areas. For the most part the surrounding area was void 
Tr