887 
Scene. 
ing. 48:393-398. 
SPOT Simulation 
nparison with 
i High Altitude 
jrammetric Eng. & 
tapping with Space 
Camera on Shuttle 
. & Remote 
Objectives and 
t. Symp. on Remote 
il Ground Cover 
jrammetric Eng. 
rentory of Land 
ind Region Using 
irch U.S. Geol. 
:over Map From 
Washington Urban 
Folio of Land 
irea, Map 
i 1:100,000. 
i., Lu, Y.C. & 
el I Land Cover 
! AVHRR Data, 
sing of 
cting Residen- 
ban Fringe, 
ng. 48:629-643. 
Cover Mapping 
oscopic Images, 
p. 68-89. 
g from Skylab 
c Eng. and Remote 
andsat-4 Thematic 
he Mobile, Ala- 
Int. Symp. on 
393-1402. 
ndsat RBV and 
s of Soviet 
mote Sensing: An 
1980's, p.94-103. 
Land Use Change 
urn. Research 
tapper Scene 
ural Area, 
ng. 51:1471-1482, 
1985. Comparative 
/ & Cartographic 
tic Mapper Image 
51:1249-1262. 
i Area Energy 
. Photogrammetric 
ition. Photo- 
il of SPOT Image 
Sensing. 
Symposium on Remote Sensing for Resources Development and Environmental Management / Enschede / August 1986 
Analysis and evaluation of recreational resources with the aid 
of remote sensing 
D.van der Zee 
International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences (ITC), Enschede, Netherlands 
ABSTRACT: Everywhere in the world the pressure on the recreational resources is increasing, proper management 
of these resources is dearly needed, and for this good information is indispensable. Airphoto interpretation 
can give an important contribution to such information. Analysis of the present situation may reveal what 
recreational activities are attracted by which recreational resources. By a study of sequences of airphotos 
the process of developments can be analysed,the impact of the recreation on the landscape assessed, and an 
indication of the spatial behaviour of recreationists obtained. Analysis of this impact and of the spatial 
behaviour can give a more detailed understanding of what use is made of which specific (parts of) recreation 
al resources. Next to physical suitability and accessibility of the terrain, the general attractivity of the 
area in which the recreational activities take place can be evaluated by special methods, in many of which 
airphoto interpretation is an important tool. 
RESUME: De partout dans le monde la pression sur les ressources de loisirs augmente, une aménagement adéquate 
de ces ressources est indispensable et nécessite de bonnes sources d'information. L'interprétation des photo 
graphies aériennes peut contribuer fortement a l'obtention de cette information. L'analyse de la situation 
présente peut révéler par quelles ressources sont attirées certaines activités de loisirs. 
Par une étude à l'aide de photographies aériennes séquentielles, le processus de développement peut être 
analysé, l'empreinte des loisirs sur le paysage peut être étudiée, ainsi que la conduite spaciale des uti 
lisateurs des activités de loisirs. 
L'analyse de cet empreinte et cette conduite spaciale permet une compréhension plus détaillée de l'utilisa 
tion de quelles (intégrales ou partielles) ressources spécifiques de loisirs. En plus des propriétés physi 
ques et l'accessibilité du terrain, l'attrait général de la région dans laquelle les activités de loisirs ont 
lieu peut être évalue par des méthodes spéciales. Dans plusieurs de ces méthodes l'interprétation des photo 
graphies aériennes joue un role important. 
INTRODUCTION 
Next to landevaluation for all kinds of agricul 
tural, grazing, forestry or other landuses, land- 
evaluation for recreational landuses is becoming 
more and more relevant also in developing countries. 
Increasing numbers of people take part in recrea 
tional activities and the income from tourism is a 
welcome support to the economy of many a country or 
region. 
Everywhere in the world pressure on the recreational 
resources is increasing. Therefore proper management 
of these resources is dearly needed. For such proper 
management good information is indispensable and can 
be best presented in a land(scape)evaluation proce 
dure. In the inventory and analysis phase of such a 
procedure remote sensing techniques - so far mainly 
airphoto interpretation has been used - are very 
important. 
SOME BASIC CONCEPTS 
Landevaluation is a method or procedure in which 
specific land uses or "land utilisation types" 
(lut's) with their requirements are confronted with 
"land (mapping)units" (lu's) with their character 
istics and qualities in order to establish which 
land units are in what degree suitable for which 
land utilisation types (FAO, 1977). 
Before starting the discussion on the application 
of this procedure to the topic recreation, this 
term, and some related terms, may need some defini 
tion in order to avoid misunderstandings. Out of the 
many definitions of recreation the following defini 
tion is preferred: "recreation": refreshment of body 
or mind by activities or a planned inactivity un 
dertaken because one wants to do it, without any 
moral, economical, social or other pressure (Zee 
1971: 6; 1985: 1). 
It is a rather wide definition of recreation and 
comprises a large variety of activities from watch 
ing television to mountain climbing. But since the 
majority of these activities concentrates in and 
around the home (Cosgrove 1972: 22), only a few .are 
relevant to consider as land utilisation type. 
Recreation in almost all cases is associated with 
"leisure" or "leisure time". Leisure is the time 
left after the economic, social and other obliga 
tions are fulfilled, it is discretionary time, to 
be used as one chooses (Clawspn 1966: 12). 
Although leisure and recreation are highly correla 
ted, they are not the same. Leisure is time of a 
special kind; recreation is activity (or inactivi 
ty) of special kinds (Clawson 1966: 12). 
Another term recreation is frequently related 
to is "tourism". Tourism can be considered as re 
creation, but not all recreation is tourism. Tour 
ism can be defined as those types of recreation for 
which one leaves the home environment for shorter 
or longer duration. Many definitions of tourism 
emphasize the staying one or more nights away from 
home and the using of facilities and services 
(Biichli 1962: 23-28; Robinson 1953: 91; Defert 
1952: 127), and clearly are formulated from the 
point of view of the "industry" that provides tra 
velers (= tourists) with food, lodging and enter 
tainment and indeed sometimes this industry itself 
is defined as "tourism" (Pearson 1961: 448). The 
difference between recreation and tourism therefore 
seems not to be a difference in activities between 
recreationists and tourists, but rather the distan-