A methodology for producing small scale rural land use maps in semi-arid developing countries using orbital imagery

The author has identified the following significant results. Results have shown that it is feasible to design a methodology that can provide suitable guidelines for operational production of small scale rural land use maps of semiarid developing regions from LANDSAT MSS imagery, using inexpensive and unsophisticated visual techniques. The suggested methodology provides immediate practical benefits to map makers attempting to produce land use maps in countries with limited budgets and equipment. Many preprocessing and interpretation techniques were considered, but rejected on the grounds that they were inappropriate mainly due to the high cost of imagery and/or equipment, or due to their inadequacy for use in operational projects in the developing countries. Suggested imagery and interpretation techniques, consisting of color composites and monocular magnification proved to be the simplest, fastest, and most versatile methods.