The article describes a new method of analysis used in land monitoring-system-categorical analysis. The content of integrated land monitoring, in which this analysis can be used, is disclosed in the article. it is shown that modern land monitoring includes four main functions: information gathering, information analysis, forecasting and management. The fundamentals of system-categorical analysis are revealed. The difference between system-categorical analysis and system analysis is shown. it is noted that system-categorical analysis considers the information situation in which the research object is located. Systemcategorical analysis used for the monitoring of land represents the information situation in the form of three nested parts. They are: the far environment-the external environment; near environment-the information situation, the core of the situation-the object of research in the situation. Nesting of these parts is a sign of system nature. The article describes the basic principles of system-categorical analysis: the principle of system nature, the principle of accounting for useful inputs, the principle of minimizing interference, the principle of the system organization of analysis, the principle of categorical correspondence. System-categorical analysis based on the consideration of information situations makes it possible to identify stable categories. it is noted that source materials should be brought to a comparable species or normalized. Each photo is considered as an information situation related to a specific point in time. Analysis of images of agricultural land, allows identifying on the ground sustainable categories of land that do not change over time. These are zones of ineffective lands. To identify these categories, geoinformation technology and the overlay procedure have been used. A direct overlay based on the operation of logical multiplication makes it possible to identify common zones from images obtained in different periods of the year. The reverse overlay allows transfering these zones to pictures and estimate their sizes.