73 QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF SURFACES OF GREENSWARD THROUGH GIS TECHNIQUES SIMON M .*, ***, COJOCARIU Luminiţa *, ** * Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine”King Mihai I of Romania” from Timisoara, 300645, 119, Calea Aradului, Timisoara, Romania ** Centre for Mountain Economics, “Costin C. Kiritescu” National Institute for Economic Research, Romanian Academy, Academy House, Calea 13 Septembrie Nr. 13, Sector 5, Bucharest, Romania *** Coresponding author e-mail: mihai_simon91@yahoo.com Abstract The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the meadows in the north-east of Arad County, in terms of territorial distribution, based on Geographical Information Systems (GIS) methods and techniques, the scientific information being obtained being "reused" in subsequent territorial analyzes. Permanent grasslands in our country are spread mainly in the hilly and mountainous regions (including the intramontane depressions), where they hold over 75% of the pastoral area. Based on the vector data, a thematic map of the studied area was created in which the percentage of grasslands was highlighted in each administrative-territorial unit, the corresponding data base being completed according to data taken from the Institute of Statistics. Keywords: grasslands, Digital Elevation Model, surfaces, altitudes, distribution. INTRODUCTION Out of the total land area of 51,010,000 ha, the dry land is 29%. From the surface of the earth globe the arable represents 9.8%; Permanent grassland 22.7% and forests 28.2%; Which means that 60.7% is covered with vegetation and 39.3% is other land. For Romania, grasslands are an important part of vegetation and because they account for about 11% of the country's territory. The grassland management, characterized over time by stability, makes them essential for biodiversity, representing some of the most important ecosystems existing in Romania and Europe. Permanent grasslands in our country are spread mainly in the hilly and mountainous regions (including the intramontane depressions), where they hold over 75% of the pastoral area (Dragomir et al., 2009; Samuil, and Vintu, 2012). The grasslands should be viewed in all their complexity, with their economic, protective, aesthetic, sporting and other functions. (Maruşca et al., 2012, Maruşca and Dragomir, 2014). The spatial identification and localization of grassland can be done from a variety of sources: cadastral maps and plans, parcel plans, orthophotomaps, topographical Romanian Journal of Grassland and Forage Crops (2017)15 Simon M. and Cojocariu Luminita Romanian Journal of Grassland and Forage Crops (2017)15