Although the development of remote sensing techniques focuses greatly on construction of new sensors with higher spatial and spectral resolution, it is advisable to also use data of older sensors (especially, the LANDSAT-mission) when the historical mapping of land use/land cover and monitoring of their dynamics are needed. Using data from LANDSAT missions as well as from Terra (ASTER) Sensors, the authors shows in his book maps of historical land cover changes with a focus on agricultural irrigation projects.

The kernel of this study was whether, how and to what extent applying the various remotely sensed data that were used here, would be an effective approach to classify the historical and current land use/land cover, to monitor the dynamics of land use/land cover during the last four decades, to map the development of the irrigation areas, and to classify the major strategic winter- and summer-irrigated agricultural crops in the study area of the Euphrates River Basin.

Presents an experimental case study with a step-by-step methodology and clear and simple illustrations and tables Deals with a politically important area (Syria and Euphrates-River-Basin) Important scientific advance: work regarding covered period, geographical location and the used data is currently underrepresented in the literature Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Inhalt
Theoretical background and literature review / state of the art.- Overview of study area.- Data and tools.- Research methodology.- Results, analysis and discussions.- Summary, concluding remarks and recommendations.