The automatic interpretation of multispectral digital data obtained from LANDSAT as well as from an airborne multispectral scanner using an interactive computer system and visual interpretation of colour composites of LANDSAT imagery and aerial photographs of a dry deciduous forest tract were used for evaluating the discrimination capabilities of each technique and for comparative evaluation. While visual interpretation of LANDSAT imagery could give only general information, such as contiguity of vegetation cover, digital analysis of the same yielded more detailed information, such as teak-bearing and non-teak-bearing regions. The analysis of airborne multispectral data, in the present state of the art, for performing forest surveys and making maps is limited. Aerial photographs are very useful for mapping forest land features and stock, which can be done more reliably than could be done by ground surveys. Infrared photographs show better promise in mapping forest features. The integration of multitemporal data and the incorporation of digitized additional information into the data stream for the improvement of digital analysis are suggested. Acquisition of data including aerial photographs for general surveys during a period prior to leaf fall in a deciduous forest is also recommended.