Rural land use mapping

• This technique is about mapping land use types within a rural environment. The completed map will show the types and intensities of land use in an area.
• F orestry

  A griculture

  O pen space

  R esidential

  I ndustrial/commercial

  R ecreational

  T ransport

  W ater features
• equipment needed:

  • Base map
  • Land-use classification key
  • Camera
  • Coloured pencils
  • Satellite images of the area
• Methodology:

  • An appropriate sampling strategy must be adopted, depending on the area size, for example using a transect or whole area.
  • Using a large scale map (ex 1:10.000 OS map) as a base map with a land use classification key (ex RICEPOTS) to make data collection easier.
  • Take digital images of the recorded land use for future reference and support.
  • The students should then follow the transect route recording information on the base map by adding colours/codes from the classification key.
• Considerations and limitations

  • Conflicting land use (NAT5)
  • Mapping the areas being researched will be time consuming and very labour intensive if working alone or in smaller groups.
  • A degree of subjectivity is inevitable when determining land use.
  • This technique only covers the ground floor meaning more specific data about upper floors is missed out reducing the reliability of the data.
  • The selection of data gathering locations along a transect could create unintentional bias.
  • Some maps may be too expensive to obtain, try local libraries where photocopies can be sourced.
• Processing techniques:

  Comparing to historical data