Use of remote sensing for agricultural statistics

Abstract

The usefulness of remote sensing in Agriculture was investigated in this project. Its goal was to examine the role of remote sensing in the construction of an area frame for purposes of obtaining agricultural statistics and mapping the distribution of coffee, tea and sisal. The area frame constructed was part of Kiambu District in Central Province Kenya. Background information discussed includes, the technology of remote sensing and its physical basis, the Landsat mission, Landsat data processing and interpretation, and the theory of sampling concepts. Aerial and ground photography was used to ground verify Landsat imagery and to aid in the identification and photo interpretation of crops. A simple and inexpensive procedure in the Landsat image enhancement, processing and in the preparation was used . Stratification of the area frame into land cover categories based on the Anderson classification scheme was achieved. Results indicated that classification of large scale of crops by crop type was possible on Landsat Imagery. A land use map based on land cover was generated and paper formats of sampling units were constructed for statistics gathering in small scale cultivations. Finally the project outlined those problems and prospects that were found to be associated with using remote sensing in the construction of an area frame in a developing country like Kenya