Tools for quantitatively investigating areas of landscape use physical objects. These are often descriptors of land cover consisting of observable physical facts that are accessible via quantitative data only. Thus, rural landscapes are characterized by settlements, monuments, buildings, communication routes, quarries or tips, and by the division of land and types of plant grown. Quantitative descriptors provide a partial image of the landscape, showing the concrete objects described above. However, these boundaries become blurred in semi-natural or natural environments.
Geographical dimension is particularly problematic when it comes to observation scales.
This distinction is critical, as it introduces the problem of the comparability of results from work carried out at different scales. It poses the problem of generalising information, which must take account of aggregation procedures in homogeneous zones and determination procedures in heterogeneous zones. This in turn raises the problem of compiling hierarchical classifications that can meet needs at the various scales. Statistics A map is a representation at a clearly defined scale, of all or part of the earth's surface. These inventories may be supplemented by ground surveys.