Studies on land types: Academic significance, function and prospect
Land type,as a basic research object of integrated physical geography,reflects the law of small-scale differentiation and integrated features of the overall environment.It is important to define the direction of land type of academic significance,function and future development of academic disciplines for the development of typology of land and its application functions.Firstly,the paper summed up the academic significance and function of land type.Land type is a basic subj ect for the bottom-up integrated natural divisions,establishment of regional land-structure,ecological research and ecological building design,agriculture restructuring including forestry,animal husbandry,as well as disaster prevention and mitigation.Secondly,based on the current situation and problems of land types in domestic and foreign research,the paper discussed the key academic problems that we need to solve,including the basic land type classification hierarchy,indicator system at all levels,connection of remote sensing data with multi-indicator system with classification of computer graphics technology.Thirdly,the paper suggests that the following are important for the land type studies,i.e.,the combination of remote sensing,computer and field studies,the establishment of the basic land type classification system and a type of indicators at all levels,as well as the classification of multivariate data index svstem based on case studies with the aid of remote sensing and computer mapping.