Parametric land cover and land-use classifications as tools for environmental change detection

Systematic description of the environment for detection of environmental changes and the human-related causes and responses is essential in land cover and land-use change studies. The combined use of land cover and land-use data allows detection of where certain changes occur, what type of change, as well as how the land is changing. Existing systems for classification of land cover or land-use are limited in the storage of the number of classes and are often internally inconsistent. Therefore, FAO developed the land cover classification system (LCCS), a comprehensive parametric classification based upon systematic description of classes using a set of independent quantifiable diagnostic criteria. With this approach land cover change detection becomes possible at the level of conversion of a class, whereas modification within a certain class type becomes immediately identifiable by a difference in classifier, or through the use of additional classifiers as is shown in a series of examples illustrating the application of the approach to primarily vegetated areas. The development of a similar classification approach for land-use is in progress. The proposed approach combines function, grouping all land used for a similar economic purpose, with activity, grouping all land undergoing a certain process resulting in a homogeneous type of products. The preliminary concepts have been tested in two applications that have shown that the system can be used as a bridging system that will ensure compatibility with, and bridge, existing systems. Furthermore, by providing (part of) the diagnostic criteria the system contributes to providing a uniform basis for environmental change detection and these criteria contribute, in turn, to standardisation. Land cover boundaries do not necessarily coincide with land-uses and the land cover/land-use relation needs more study to understand its complexity.