SIT-based LUCC assessment system for sustainable agriculture development in western China methodology and case study

Land use, cover and change (LUCC) assessment is a very important topic for both governmental sectors and institutions in China. In this paper, several typical LUCC programs in China was introduced, and the methodology was discussed for spatial information technology (SIT) applications in LUCC and sustainable agriculture development (SAD) such as data collection and update by RS and GNSS, data management and analysis by GIS, impact analysis of LUCC on SAD and model development for SAD decision making. As an example, a case study was designed and proposed for developing a LUCCSAD system in Xinjiang, western China. The general objective of the proposed study is to build an integrated system (platform), including spatial information acquiring, processing, decision making and services platform to provide timely LUCC information for decision makers of different sectors, farmers, researchers, and so on. ? 2005 IEEE.EI