Land Use / Land Cover Classifications are among the most iconic tasks for remote sensing scientists. They enable us to explore, map and monitor landscapes as well as better understand the impacts of for exampel natural hazards or anthropogenic influences.

 

Land cover refers to the actual (bio-)physical cover present on the observed surface, and thus can be determined directly by analyzing satellite imagery. This could for example be shrublands, forests, bare soil or water.

 

Land use refers to the way specific land is used, as the name implies. This could be for example agricultural land, transport infrastructure, industrial or recreational land like parks.

 

Advancing literature:

Al-Fares, W. (2013): Historical Land Use / Land Cover Classification Using Remote Sensing. A Case Study of the Euphrates River Basin in Syria. SpringerBriefs in Geography.