A Theoretical Framework for Land Evaluation

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Land evaluation is the process of predicting the use potential of land on the basis of its attributes. A variety of analytical models can be used in these predictions, ranging from qualitative to quantitative, functional to mechanistic, and specific to general. This paper classifies land evaluation models by how they take time and space into account, and whether they use land qualities as an intermediate between land characteristics and land suitability. Temporally, models can be of a static resource base and static land suitability, a dynamic resource base but static land suitability, or both a dynamic resource base and dynamic land suitability. Spatially, land evaluation models can be of a single area with no interaction between areas, with static inter-area effects, or dynamic inter-area effects. In the most complex case, land suitabilities for several land uses are interdependent.

• Preliminary Definitions
• Part 1 : Non-spatial models of single-area land suitability
  • Case 1 : Static resource base, static land suitability
    1. Evaluation based on Land Characteristics
    2. The land index
    3. Land suitability based on crop yield
    4. Economic land evaluation
    5. Evaluation based on Land Qualities
    6. Land suitability based on crop yield; economic land evaluation
    7. Suitability for one LUT depends on suitability for a different LUT
    8. Hierarchy of Land Characteristics
  • Case 2: Dynamic resource base, static land suitability
    1. Evaluation based on Land Characteristics
    2. Evaluation based on Land Qualities
  • Case 3: Dynamic resource base, dynamic land suitability
    1. Evaluation based on Land Characteristics
    2. Evaluation based on Land Qualities
    3. Feedback
  • Time-series analysis of land suitability
• Part 2 : Spatial models of single-area land suitability
  • Case 1: No inter-cell effects
  • Case 2: Static inter-cell effects
  • Case 3 : Dynamic inter-cell effects
  • Case 4 : Suitability for a LUT depends on several contrasting LMUs
  • Case 5 : Interdependent suitability
• Part 3 : Models of multi-area suitability and the land allocation problem
• Conclusions

URL: http://www.itc.nl/personal/rossiter/pubs/theorycs.htm

Last Updated: 2007_251