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International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol XXXV, Part B7. Istanbul 2004
ing and harvesting'. Impacts of operations may exceed the in-
tended effects resulting in, e.g. erosion, accumulation of pesti-
cide residues, loss of soil fertility, etc. Four basic types of im-
pact can be distinguished; they relate to soil/terrain, flora/fauna,
infrastructure and air.
Observations (Figure 5) are defined as: "A record of one or
more land conditions that are relevant to the performance of a
land use system." Examples of observations are "water shortage
during crop establishment", or "recorded limitation of the root-
ing depth of crops". Observations can be made at any moment
during the life span of the land use system; the land user makes
them often and information about such observations is obtained
through interviews. Observations frequently provide important
information on the temporal properties of the land use system;
such information is not stored in databases that contain only
static or generalized data on land.
a meo elo S. REESE"
Ecosystem Classes
Actual Land Use System Data : €
related
items
Etc
vations | Data set Identification
(Database Objects) B Site Identification
Ecosystem Identification
CT Relates to Land use Land [| Land Sol B weather Data,
Use [| Cover Data Data Etc Output
XY Level includes spatial links Data [| Data
Figure 2. The basic “root concept” (structure) of a LUS- in-
formation system.
| Context P Socio-Economical Conditions [L—39»| Land «—|cows |
; a > User(s
Bio-Physical Conditions ser(s)
Decision making
equirements & Land Use System i / planning
Suitability
Land | Land Us Ÿ
Soil / Terrain
: Land Use
Climate / Weather Purpose(s)
Productivity Vegetation Impact on land
(Crops / Flora) (+ or-)
Outputs Inputs /
/ € | Wildlife (Fauna) [i ‚Operation ét implements
Benefits Infrastructure Sequence
Impact on/from
the environment
Interaction with
secondary production
systems
Other Land Use Systems
x
Livestock Systems
Figure 3. Conceptual Structure of a Land Use System (LUS)
providing Practical *Study Entries' (De Bie, 2000).
4. USEOF RS FOR LAND USE MAPPING
The spatial characteristics of a land use system define its
boundary. For agricultural purposes, a land use system can be
limited to a plot. A plot was defined as "A piece of land, con-
sidered homogeneous in terms of land resources and assigned
to one specific land use (De Bie, 2000)."
1151
Land Use Data & | Land Use Class
1 Dataset Identifications = © Land Use
Classification
Systems &
A-priori Land
Use Class Names
NERIS
2 Site Identifications
S Link
3 Land Use
System
Operation Seq.
Descriptions and
Detailed
quantities
context classif.
Land Use Purpose
Classifiers,
i.e. generalised :
[ Species/Services //
Products/Benefits] -
combinations aimed at: ^,
v. implements Used.
vations = ?
Parameter values organised
hierarchically in 23 Glossary
Trees (act as objects)
SS
Figure 4. The underlying database files on Land Use (4 main
levels); Squares represent one database file each, links from the
(23) Glossary files to the ; Land Use Data and Land Use
Classes data files are not shown in detail.
Operation Sequences
1969 1975 1979 1988 1989
| | |
Grazing Fallowing Rainfed Cropping
« »
d N
ue d
er N
ar S
"m. N
1988 — 89
| eve LL
CELA I RE EW SONT D
Operations
NPK Applic.
ere rtrrccene i».
Seeding eeding Harvesting Fallow
4» xe +» dB m Br
: Observations
4» 4» 4»
Rill Erosion Germination 4 Pest Attack 4
Trampling Hail Storm
Figure 5. Illustrating Land Use Operations and Observations.
The “operation sequence" is an essential component of any
crop calendar. A crop calendar was defined as: ^A sequential
summary of the dates/periods of essential operations, including
land preparation, planting, and harvesting, for a specific land
use; it may apply to a specific plot, but is frequently generalized
to characterize a specified area." Plot specific crop calendars
form the key to map land use with the support of (multi-
temporal) RS-imagery (see examples below).
A cropping pattern is traditionally defined as (ASA 1976;
FAO 1996): "The yearly sequence and spatial arrangement of
crops or of crops and fallow on a given area". In view of the
crop calendar definition, the cropping pattern definition can
be sharpened to: "The spatial and temporal arrangement of
crops (trees) on a specific plot." Generally, a cropping pattern
refers to a period of one year, but may also contain information
on crop rotation. The definition contains spatial information
(within a plot) that is not present in a crop calendar, but lacks
actual date/period references as provided by a crop calendar.
Cropping pattern terminology is area a-specific and therefore
often used to classify land use (see section 6). Legends of land
use maps will considerably improve when cropping pattern
syntax is used (see Appendix).
