Mapping arable/grassland land cover changes by satellite

This paper describes the results of a project assessing the suitability of satellite imagery for Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) monitoring. A system has been developed to improve the accuracy of land cover map updating, using satellite imagery and other digital data sources. Aerial photography and Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite imagery have been compared as data sources for updating land cover maps of the Broads ESA; and the strengths and weakness of imagery as a data source identified. ERS-1 SAR imagery can be used in the map updating process to reduce the ambiguity of deciding whether grass cover implies permanent grassland or grass in arable rotation.