Land Use Classifications
¥Cropland
¥Hayland
¥Pasture
¥Residential
¥Commercial/Municipal
¥Mature Forest
¥Transitional Forest
¥Wetland
¥Old Field
¥Cleared
¥
We use ten classifications of land use types, which were adapted from past Colby studies of other lakes in the area.  In some of the land use analyses, we used exceptions to these classifications.
For the 2002 map, mature and transitional forest were grouped into a single category of forest.  This is because the photographs were taken in April, at which time no leaves were on the trees, and it was therefore impossible to distinguish mature from transitional forest.
For the land use change map, the classifications were grouped into other broader categories to enable comparisons between the two maps.  For example, old field and cleared land were group into a disturbed forest category; cropland, hayland, and pasture were grouped into the category of agriculture; and the residential and commercial/municipal classifications were grouped into developed land.