History of Remote Sensing and GIS as It Relates to Assessment of Land Use and Land Cover Changes Over Time

This chapter describes the technical history and detailed background of remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) both in the broader discipline as well as how they are relevant and important to Cuban scientific research. First an abbreivated history of remote sensing and GIS is given and then how this relates to earth observations in the Caribbean and Cuba. Several analyses are shown as examples illustrating impacts on the Cuban terrestrial and marine territories such as threats to marine areas from urban growth and indirect impacts from pollution issues such as sewage and sediment deposition.