Land Use
A categorization of land that reflects the current use of a specific parcel of land. Land use classification systems vary dramatically based on the primary purpose of the classification system. For instance, a use classification system designed primarily for transportation planning evaluation will vary greatly from one that is used to classify wetland areas for habitat suitability. Most land use classification systems in local government systems are developed primarily as parcel classification systems for use in the automation of land assessment procedures. Parcel land use systems will often classify land in a way greatly divergent from a system that interprets land use using traditional aerial photographic interpretation techniques. Land use classification should be distinguished from land cover classification systems. Land cover classification systems are oriented toward capturing the actual geological and/or vegetation cover on the land (e.g., pine forests) rather than the use of the land (e.g., commercial forestry).