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The use of multilayer neural networks for the classification of forest types on the basis of the processing of radar images is investigated. It is demonstrated by modeling that with respect to stochastic characteristics the described classification method (using multilayer neural networks) and a training procedure designed to increase its accuracy (via the a priori specification of radar reflectance values typical of specific types of vegetation) are highly effective. The methods were tested and verified using SIR-C images recorded by the U.S. Space Shuttle.

Efforts to monitor and map the changing water level and shoreline of a large mountain lake in Central Asia with aerial photographs are described. The essence of the work involved the mapping of the shoreline and position of river deltas from air photos from various years during the period 1949-1980, at uniform scale and at a level of accuracy permitting the quantitative (cartometric) as well as qualitative assessment of change. The sequence of work in compilation of map-diagrams for different parts of the shoreline involved the preliminary referencing of photos to a map, photo interpretation and compilation of large-scale “graphic diagrams,” preparation of a cartographic base, reduction and placement of diagrams on the base, and transformation of the image as a whole. Results of analysis of these map-diagrams are summarized. Translated from: Vestnik Leningradskogo Universiteta, ser. 7: geologiya, geografiya, 1986, No. 2, pp. 44-48.

The content of papers relating to cartography's role in support of several important ongoing programs incorporated within the Twelfth Five-Year Plan (the Food Program of the USSR, in particular), delivered at the Eighth Congress of the Geographical Society of the USSR (Kiev, 1985), are summarized. The types of maps needed for such cartographic support range from those depicting basic land uses to highly specialized paleogeographical, ecological, evaluative, and forecast maps to be used in basic research, education, and planning. A number of suggestions for enhancing the applications and effectiveness of cartography in major economic development programs are outlined. Translated from: Vestnik Leningradskogo Universiteta, seriya 7 [geologiya, geografiya], 1987, No. 2, pp. 55-62.

The author attempts to define the concept of “reliability” in cartography, i.e., to replace what he considers a mechanistic, technical conception of the reliability of a map with one which emphasizes the correspondence of map contents with reality, that is, the quality of map information. He then presents a system of guidelines for evaluating the reliability of a map which can be extended to the interpretation of original source materials for aerial and satellite mapping–remote sensing imagery. These guidelines include trustworthiness–absence of distortion in information that is conveyed by the map, completeness–lack of omission in information presentation (necessary generalization notwithstanding), and accuracy–absence of error in the positioning of features on a map. Translated from: Vestnik Leningrad-skogo Universiteta, 1985, No. 21.

A brief history of land-use mapping sets the stage for a survey of contemporary land-use mapping across the world, and more specifically, the applications of remote sensing methods in such mapping. Other issues addressed include the need to refine the definition of land use to encompass the totality of geographic space, to formally recognize the difference between large-scale maps of agricultural land-use and smaller-scale general land-use maps, and to investigate more closely the wisdom and desirability of a standardized world land-use classification. Four types of land-use maps are identified: diagnostic/informational, historical, dynamic, and predictive. Translated from: Vestnik Leningradskogo Universiteta, 1983, No. 24, pp. 52-61.