Abstract

A GIS-based tool for the measurement of local spatial context in satellite data is presented in this paper and used to explore the relationship between land covers present in satellite data and land use represented in official databases. By the use of the developed tool, a land configuration image (LCI) over the Siljan area in northern Sweden was produced and used for analysis. The results are twofold. First, the produced LCI holds new information about variables that are relevant for the interpretation of land use. Second, the comparison with statistics of agricultural production shows that production in the study area varies depending on the relative land configuration. Villages consisting of relatively large-scale arable fields and less diverse landscape are less diverse in production than villages which consist of smaller-scale and more heterogonous landscapes. The result is especially relevant for land use studies and policymakers working on environmental and agricultural policies. We conclude that local spatial context is an endogenous variable in the relation between landscape configuration and agricultural land use. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Land configuration; Agricultural land use; Spatial context; Relative scale; European landscape convention; von Thunen

Published in

International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation
2013, Volume: 23, pages: 234-244
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

SLU Authors

• Wästfelt, Anders

  • Department of Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG15 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
SDG11 Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable


UKÄ Subject classification

Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Human Geography


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2012.09.006

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/42802