ABSTRACT
Information on rural land-use change is required in Canada for planning at various spatial scales. Such information allows a wide range of socio-economic variables, as well as spatially variable physical factors such as soil types and land forms to be related to changes in land use. This chapter describes a pilot study aimed at developing an operational method for cost-effective and rapid monitoring of rural land-use change, and which is consistent with Canada's requirements. The primary objective of the project is to develop methods for obtaining data on rural land-use change that will allow comparisons to be made over space and time. The chapter also details a methodology based on the interpretation of aerial photography. The air photo based system for information collection comprises four distinct steps: sample design, photograph acquisition, photograph registration and interpretation, and data compilation. The chapter discusses some implications of the findings for a broad-scale monitoring program.
