LAND USE AND LAND COVER CLASSIFICATION

2. INTRODUCTION:
Although the terms “Land Use” and “Land Cover” are often used interchangeably, then-
actual meanings are quite distinct. Land Use refers to the purpose the land serves, for
example, mining, agriculture, settlement etc. Land Cover refers to the surface cover on
the ground, whether vegetation, water, bare soil etc. One concept that has much merit is
that Land Use refers to, "man's activities on land which are directly related to the land"
(Clawson and Stewart, 1965). Land Cover, on the other hand, describes, "the vegetation
covering the land surface" (Burley, 1961).

3. DEFINITION:
According to Food and Agriculture Organization , Land cover refers to observed physical and biological cover of
the earth’s land . Land is covered by various from of vegetation,grassland,scrubs,water bodies , bore soil etc. All
this naturally occurring vegetation cover is called land cover.Earth cover is the expression used by
ecologist Frederick Edward Clements that has its closest modern equivalent being vegetation. The expression
continues to be used by the United States Bureau of Land Management.
According to Food and Agriculture Organization, define the land use as “The total of arrangement activities , and
inputs that people undertake in certain land cover type.”
Land use is the surface utilization of all developed and vacant land on a specific point, at a given time and space
(Mandal, 1990). According to the FAO concept, land use defines the human activities which are directly related
to land, making use of its resources, or having an impact on them. In that context the emphasis is on the function
or purpose for which the land is used and particular reference is made to “the management
of land to meet human needs” (FAO, 1976).
Jasbir Singh and Dillon (2005) define land use of an area as “the cumulative outcome of the historical events, the
interaction of the economic forces with the natural environment and natural value of the society”.

4. The Difference Between “Land Use” And “Land Cover”:-
Land use and land cover have some fundamental differences. Land use refers to the purpose the land serves, for example,
recreation, wildlife habitat or agriculture; it does not describe the surface cover on the ground. For example, a recreational
land use could occur in a forest, shrubland, grasslands or on manicured lawns.
Land cover refers to the surface cover on the ground, whether vegetation, urban infrastructure, water, bare soil or other; it
does not describe the use of land, and the use of land may be different for lands with the same cover type.
In short, land use indicates how people are using the land, whereas land cover indicates the physical land type. Both
types of data are most often obtained from analysis of either satellite or aerial images.
FACTORS OF LAND USE:-
The land use pattern of a region is an outcome of natural and socio – economic factors which decide the utilization of land
by man over time and space. Such decisions are influenced by a large number of factors of physical and cultural aspects.
I. PHYSICAL FACTORS:-Geology, Topography, Climate, Soil.
ii. CULTURAL FACTORS:-Demographic factors, Social factors, Institutional factors

5. DEVELOPMENT OF THE CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM:-
In 1930, the first Land Use survey was carried out in Great
Britain under the direction of L.D. Stamp. Kellong in 1940 successfully applied land classification system to
understand land use problems for development purposes by using aerial photographs. However, the first LULC
information and classification with remote sensing data was formulated in USA in the year 1971, by a steering
committee. The work of the committee, composed of representatives from the Geological Survey of the U.S.
Department of the Interior, NASA, the Soil Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the
Association of American Geographers and the International Geographical Union, has been supported by NASA
and the Department of the Interior and coordinated by the U.S. Geological Survey (U.S.G.S.). The objective of
the committee was the development of a national classification system that would be receptive to inputs of data
from both conventional sources and remote sensors on high- altitude aircraft and satellite platforms, and that
would at the same time form the framework into which the categories of more detailed land use studies by
regional, State, and local agencies could be fitted.

6. DESIGNING A CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM:-
Till date, there is no one ideal classification of Land Use and Land Cover. A Land Use and Land Cover classification system
which can effectively employ orbital and high- altitude remote sensor data should meet the following criteria (Anderson,
1971):-
1. The minimum level of interpretation accuracy in the identification of land use and land cover categories
from remote sensor data should be at least 85 percent.
2. The accuracy of interpretation for the several categories should be about equal.
3. Repeatable or repetitive results should be obtainable from one interpreter to another and from one time
of sensing to another.
4. The classification system should be applicable over extensive areas.
5. The categorization should permit vegetation and other types of land cover to be used as surrogates for
activity.
6. The classification system should be suitable for use with remote sensor data obtained at different times of
the year.
7. Effective use of subcategories that can be obtained from ground surveys or from the use of larger scale or
enhanced remote sensor data should be possible.
8. Aggregation of categories should be possible.
9. Comparison with future land use data should be possible.
10. Multiple uses of land should be recognized when possible.
Some of these criteria should apply to LULC classification in general, but some of the criteria apply primarily
to LULC data interpreted from remote sensor data.

7. 1.LAND USE AND LAND COVER CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM BY USGS:-
At the international level the United States Geological Survey (USGS) brought out an exhaustive Land use
classification system which could be used better on remotely sensed data (Table-1). The basis of this classification
has been explained in detail by Anderson by means of a policy paper in 1976. In this paper, Anderson pointed out
that in 1971 an interagency Steering Committee on Land Use information and Classification was constituted in the
United States for developing a National Land use classification system
which uses both conventional data and remotely sensed data. Experts from NASA, United States Geological
Survey (USGS), International Geographical Union (IGU), Association of American Geographers (AAG) and
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) were the members of the Committee which was coordinated by
the USGS.
Considering the resolution parameters of different sensors, Anderson indicates broad scales at which the different
Levels can be identified.
Level I -- LANDSAT type data
Level II -- High altitude data (12400m or above) with at least 1:80000 scale
Level III -- Medium altitude data (3100 to 12400 m) with 1:20000 to1:80000 scale
Level IV -- Low altitude data (below 3100m) with more than 1:20000 Scale.
Considering these aspects, using Remote sensing data, The United State Geological Survey (USGS) prepared land
use land cover maps of USA in 1976 on a scale of 1:250,000 and 1:100,000. USGS adopted a land use
classification scheme with different hierarchical levels.

8. USGS devised a Land Use Land Cover classification system for use with remote sensing data in the mid 1970’s.
The Major Classes are as follows:-
➢ Urban or Built-up Land
➢ Agricultural Land
➢ Rangeland
➢ Forest Land
➢ Water
➢ Wetland
➢ Barren Land
➢ Tundra
➢ Perennial Snow or Ice.
A brief description of each USGS LULC class is given in the following sections:-
➢ Urban or Built-up Land:-
Urban or Built-up Land is comprised of areas of intensive use with much of the land covered by structures. Included in this
category are cities, towns, villages, strip developments along highways, transportation, power, and communications facilities,
and areas such as those occupied by mills, shopping centers, industrial and commercial complexes, and institutions that may,
in some instances, be isolated from urban areas.

9. ➢Agricultural Land:
Agricultural Land may be defined broadly as land used primarily for production of food
and fiber. On high-altitude imagery, the chief indications of agricultural activity will be distinctive geometric field
and road patterns on the landscape and the traces produced by livestock or mechanized equipment.
➢Rangeland:
Rangeland historically has been defined as land where the potential natural vegetation is
predominantly grasses, grasslike plants, forbs, or shrubs and where natural herbivory was an important influence
in its precivilization state.
➢ Forest Land:
Forest Lands have a tree-crown areal density (crown closure percentage) of 10 percent or
more, are stocked with trees capable of producing timber or other wood products, and exert an influence on the
climate or water regime. Forest Land generally can be identified rather easily on high-altitude imagery, although
the boundary between it and other categories of land may be difficult to delineate precisely.
➢ Water:
Water as defined by the Bureau of the Census includes all areas within the land mass of the United States that
persistently are water covered, provided that, if linear, they are at least lj8 mile (200 m) wide and, if extended,
cover at least 40 acres (16 hectares.

10. ➢Wetland:
Wetlands are those areas where the water table is at, near, or above the land surface for a significant part of most
years. The hydrologic regime is such that aquatic or hydrophytic vegetation usually is established, although
alluvial and tidal flats may be non vegetated.
➢ Barren Land:
Barren Land is land of limited ability to support life and in which less than one-third of the area has vegetation or
other cover. In general, it is an area of thin soil, sand, or rocks.
➢ Tundra:
Tundra is the term applied to the treeless regions beyond the limit of the boreal forest and above the altitudinal
limit of trees in high mountain ranges. The vegetative cover of the tundra is low, dwarfed, and often forms a
complete mat. These plant characteristics are in large part the result of adaptation to the physical environment.
➢ Perennial Snow or Ice:
Certain lands have a perennial cover of either snow or ice because of a combination of environmental factors
which cause these features to survive the summer melting season.

11. Level I Level II
1 Urban or Built-up Land
1.1 Residential
1.2 Commercial and Services
1.3 Industrial
1.4 Transportation, Communications,
1.5 Industrial and Commercial Complexes
1.6 Mixed Urban or Built up Land
1.7 Other Urban or Built up Land
2 Agricultural Land
2.1 Cropland and Pasture
2.2 Orchards, Groves, Vineyards, Nurseries,
2.3 Confined Feeding Operations
2.4 Other Agricultural Land
3 Rangeland 3.1 Herbaceous Rangeland
3.2 Shrub and Brush Rangeland
3.3 Mixed Rangeland
4 Forest Land 4.1 Deciduous Forest Land
4.2 Evergreen Forest Land
4.3 Mixed Forest Land
5 Water
5.1 Streams and Canals
5.2 Lakes
5.3 Reservoirs
5.4 Bays and Estuaries
6 Wetland 6.1 Forested Wetland
6.2 Nonforested Wetland
7 Barren Land
7.1 Dry Salt Flats.
7.2 Beaches
7.3 Sandy Areas other than Beaches
7.4 Bare Exposed Rock
7.5 Strip Mines Quarries and Gravel Pits
7.6 Transitional Areas
7.7 Mixed Barren Land
8 Tundra
8.1 Shrub and Brush Tundra
8.2 Herbaceous Tundra
8.3 Bare Ground Tundra
8.4 Wet Tundra
8.5 Mixed Tundra
9 Perennial Snow or Ice 9.1 Perennial Snowfields
9.2 Glaciers
Table -1:USGS Land Use and Land Cover Classification System

12. 2. NATIONAL LAND USE AND LAND COVER CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM BY NRSC :
India became one among the space powers in the world by last decade. National
Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) under ISRO is instrumental for carrying out application of remotely sensed data
in land use studies. NRSA devised a land use classification scheme based on satellite data. They classified land
use into six major types with 22 sub divisions (Table 2). This ‘twenty two fold’ classification system is widely used
for land use studies and agricultural as well as environmental planning in the country.
The Major Classes are as follows:
i. Built Up
ii. Agricultural Land
iii. Forest
iv. Wastelands
v. Wetlands
vi. Water bodies
vii. Others

13. Level I Level II
1 Built- up land 1.1 Built- up land
2 Agricultural land
1. Crop land
1. Kharif
2. Rabi
3. Kharif+Rabi
2.2 Fallow
2.3 Plantation
3
Forest
3.1 Evergreen/semi ever green
3.2 Deciduous forest
3.3 Degraded/ scrub and
3.4 Forest blank
3.5 Forest plantation
3.6 Mangrove
4
Waste land
4.1 Salt affected land
4.2 water logged land
4.3 Marshy/swampy land
4.4 Gullied/ravenous land
4.5 Land with or witout scrub
4.6 Sandy area
4.7 Barren/ rocky/ stony waste
5 Water bodies 5.1 River/streams
5.2 Lake/reservoir/tank/canal
8 Others
6.1 Shifting cultivation
6.2 Grass land/ grazing land
6.3 Snow covered/ glaciated land
By virtue of different landscapes present in India and US, there is an indispensable difference between the two LULC
classification schemes devised by USGS and NRSC. The LULC classes like “Tundra” and “Perennial snow or ice” in the
USGS classification, is not included in the NRSC scheme. The class “Perennial snow or ice” is included under
the class “Others” in NRSC classification as it is not a very major LULC class in the Indian perspective. In NRSC
classification another major class is “Waste land”, which is not included in the USGS scheme.
Table 2.NRSA Land use/ land cover classification system

14. 3.LAND USE CLASSIFICATION SCHEMES IN INDIA:-
Land utilization statistics provide the area figures
showing the distribution of the total geographical area of the country into its various uses.
Detailed statistics of land utilization which mainly give area of land put to different uses are
almost continuously available since 1884. In the year, ‘the returns of Agricultural Statistics of
British India" gave details of area cultivated and uncultivated, crops cultivated and irrigated.
Separate
statistics of land cropped and under current fallows, land available for cultivation and of area
under forests were also collected.
❑ ICAR NINE FOLD CLASSIFICATION (1951)
Out of the total geographical area of 328 million hectares, the land-use statistics are available for roughly 306
million hectares, constituting 93 percent of the total. Before1950-51, in India, the land utilization statistics were
available under five categories. They were:
(I)Forest
(ii) Area not available for cultivation
(iii) Other uncultivated land excluding current fallows
(iv) Fallow land and
(iv) Net area sown.

15. This fivefold classification was merely a broad outline of land use in the country. It was found to be insufficient to meet the
needs of agricultural planning. To remove the noncomparability and to break up the broad categories into smaller
constituents for better comprehension, the Technical Committee on Co-ordination of Agricultural Statistics was set up in 1948
by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. They classified the land use into the two basic types – agricultural and non
agricultural land uses. Thus the committee recommended a ‘Nine fold’ land use classification and also put forward standard
concepts and definitions for each land use class to be followed by all States in the country. This nine fold classification was
widely used in all scientific studies in the last century. Details of the nine types are given in Table 3.
Sl no
Category Definition
1 Forest
All area classed as forests under any legal enactment or administered as forests,
whether State- owned or private.
2
Land put to non-agricultural uses All lands occupied by buildings , roads, railway, or under water e.g. rivers , canals, etc
3 Barren and uncultivable land
All barren and uncultivable land which cannot be brought under cultivation like
mountain, desert, etc
4
Permanent pastures and other grazing land All pastures and grazing lands permanent or not
5
Land under miscellaneous tree crop All cultivated land which is not included under ‘net area sown’
6 Cultivable waste
Include all lands available for cultivation whether not taken up for cultivation or taken
up for once, but not cultivated currently.
7 Fallow other than current fallow
All lands which are taken up for cultivation but are temporarily out of cultivation for a
period of less than one year but not more than five years.
8 Current fallow
Comprises cropped area which are kept fallow during the current year
9 Net area sown
Area sown with crops and orchards, counting area sown more than once in the same
year only once.
Table 3:ICAR Nine Fold Land Use Classification (1951)

17. Conclusion:-
Earth observation have the potential to respond to the growing and urgent demand for timely and
accurate land cover information over large areas.in the recent past the land cover mapping from satellite has come for age
, though research on various issues regarding data pre-processing classification and accuracy assessment , new and unique
data product are being generated which could not be produced earlier technique. The future research in LCLU studies
needs to address the best way to talking advantage of satellite derived land cover databases though LULC change
modelling technique.
REFERENCES:
➢ Land cover– Wikipedia, Retrieved from- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_cover.
➢ USGS, Retrieved from- https://www.usgs.gov/land-resources/eros/lulc