A ground-truth (GT) map, produced by fieldwork and the interpretation of large-scale black and white aerial photographs, was compared with digital/graphical output from LANDSAT data of the savanna around Makurdi in central Nigeria. The GT maps were digitized, grid-converted and then aggregated while the LANDSAT data were resampled for the purpose of rectification on the ERDAS 400 microcomputer at the Michigan State University. A visual comparison of the maps was done by overlaying the digital maps on the GT map using a colour monitor while the histogram listing provided an approximate quantitative comparison.