Introduction to Unit 7: Land use/cover

This section of the course looks at the ideas of land use and land cover, a key data set in environmental management and monitoring. We do not attempt to cover the remote sensing techniques that are required to produce a land cover data product, but rather focus on the ways that such data can then be analysed within a GIS. There are four components to this section of the course:

  1. Land use/land cover concepts and data: This component looks at some key concepts underpinning land use / land cover mapping, as well as some specific sources and examples of land use / cover data products.
  2. Land use/cover change modelling: In this section, we look at techniques that can be used to model the processes of land use / cover change, such as the Markov chain modelling technique. This includes a GIS practical exercise.
  3. Ecosystem services and land use / cover: In the final section, we look at the rapidly developing field of ecosystem services, and the inter-relationship between land use / cover, GIS analysis, and ecosystem services.
  4. Assignment – conservation and fire risk: GIS, conservation and wildfire risk analysis

 
The final part of this unit includes an assessed piece of work that counts one third towards your overall course grade in this part of the course.

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