IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envirb/v32y2005i2p199-209.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What is Land Cover?

Author

Listed:
  • Alexis Comber
  • Peter Fisher
  • Richard Wadsworth

    (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Monks Wood, Huntingdon PE28 2LS, England)

Abstract

Much geographic information is an interpretation of reality and it is possible for multiple interpretations to coexist. This is unproblematic for the research community but, as the numbers of users increase through initiatives resulting in data integration on an unprecedented scale, such as E-science and GRID, issues of information meaning and conceptualisation become more important. We explore these issues through the mapping of land cover and the variety of conceptions of land-cover features that may be held by actors in the creation, distribution, and use of the information. Current metadata do not report the wider meaning of the information categories in terms of the decisions that were made and by whom in specifying class conceptualisations.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexis Comber & Peter Fisher & Richard Wadsworth, 2005. "What is Land Cover?," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 32(2), pages 199-209, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirb:v:32:y:2005:i:2:p:199-209
    DOI: 10.1068/b31135
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/b31135
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/b31135?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paul Robbins, 2001. "Fixed Categories in a Portable Landscape: The Causes and Consequences of Land-Cover Categorization," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 33(1), pages 161-179, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Athanasiadis, Antonios & Andreopoulou, Zacharoula, 2019. "E-praxis: A web-based forest law decision support system for land characterization in Greece," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 157-166.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Eric Nost, 2015. "Performing nature's value: software and the making of Oregon's ecosystem services markets," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 47(12), pages 2573-2590, December.
    2. Elisabeth Sedano, 2016. "‘Sensor’ship and Spatial Data Quality," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 1(2), pages 75-87.
    3. Mattias Qviström, 2013. "Landscapes with a Heartbeat: Tracing a Portable Landscape for Jogging in Sweden (1958–1971)," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(2), pages 312-328, February.
    4. Wil Zonneveld, 2005. "Multiple Visioning: New Ways of Constructing Transnational Spatial Visions," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 23(1), pages 41-62, February.
    5. Allington, Ginger R.H. & Fernández-Giménez, María E. & Reid, Robin & Ulambayar, Tungalag & Angerer, Jay & Jamsranjav, Chantsallkham & Baival, Batkhishig & Batjav, Batbuyan, 2024. "Context matters: Rethinking resource governance theories for Mongolian pastoral systems," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    6. Baka, Jennifer & Bailis, Robert, 2014. "Wasteland energy-scapes: A comparative energy flow analysis of India's biofuel and biomass economies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 8-17.
    7. Amit John Kurien & Sharachchandra Lele & Harini Nagendra, 2019. "Farms or Forests? Understanding and Mapping Shifting Cultivation Using the Case Study of West Garo Hills, India," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-26, August.
    8. Chhotray, Vasudha, 2022. "A supercyclone, landscapes of ‘emptiness’ and shrimp aquaculture: The lesser-known trajectories of disaster recovery in coastal Odisha, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    9. Flurina M. Wartmann & Ross S. Purves, 2017. "What’s (Not) on the Map: Landscape Features from Participatory Sketch Mapping Differ from Local Categories Used in Language," Land, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-16, November.
    10. Melissa Leach, 2008. "Pathways to Sustainability in the Forest? Misunderstood Dynamics and the Negotiation of Knowledge, Power, and Policy," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 40(8), pages 1783-1795, August.
    11. Adam Jadhav & Sharolyn Anderson & Michael J. B. Dyer & Paul C. Sutton, 2017. "Revisiting Ecosystem Services: Assessment and Valuation as Starting Points for Environmental Politics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-20, September.
    12. Gregory L Simon, 2010. "Mobilizing Cookstoves for Development: A Dual Adoption Framework Analysis of Collaborative Technology Innovations in Western India," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 42(8), pages 2011-2030, August.
    13. Cheyns, Emmanuelle & Silva-Castañeda, Laura & Aubert, Pierre-Marie, 2020. "Missing the forest for the data? Conflicting valuations of the forest and cultivable lands," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envirb:v:32:y:2005:i:2:p:199-209. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.