The scientific journal was founded in 1951. The journal presents the results of research and practical advice on the issues of land reclamation and use of reclaimed lands. The journal is included in the list of scientific editions of the Republic of Belarus for the publication of results of dissertation research.

One of the cornerstones of sustainable use of land resources is the use of land resources for the identified needs. In every country it is needed to list the land according to the type of land use. Such function of land classification in Latvia is maintained by the classification of purpose of real property use. In a certain period of time needs of the specific purposes for which the land resources are used are changing, so the aim of this study is to research changes of areas of purpose of real property use in municipalities of Latvia.

Aim of the paper is to explore the possibilities of application of orthophoto maps in determination of land degradation. One of the forms of remote sensing is aerial photography. Orthophoto maps are made from aerial photography with specialized software orthophoto maps were analysed in perspective for several years – from 2005 to 2011.The results are based on the expert. With each year possibilities of application of orthophoto maps are expanding. During the research, data of survey and SWOT analysis of determination of land degradation by orthophoto maps.

The spatial distribution of vegetation trends identified by time series analysis of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) for the Mongolian grasslands was cross-referenced with the recently obtained land use/cover data and socioeconomic information in the geographic domain. Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) dataset with an 8-km resolution provided by the Global Land Cover Facility (GLCF) of the United States were used to compute the vegetation trends.

The modified input-output multiplier is proposed. Some limitations of the multiplier and the results of its application to four major land use industries are discussed.