The increasing number of run-off damages occurring in Pays de Caux is a serious concern for regional authorities. The suggested method aims the assessmenl of run-off parameters using Remote Sensing and GIS. This method allows an objective comparison of the intrinsic and anthropic pressures of cultivated catchment from 1000 to 5000 ha. The potenliaI ron-off characteristics are analysed using land use components increasing or limiting run-off. and their spoliaI distrihulion on three different functional units. The selected parameters are the grassland proportion and compacity around concentrated surficial water channels (80 m wide), the proportion and compacity of the soil surfaces contributive to run-off on the top of catchments and, finally, the simple proportion of grassland and forest upon high sloped areas. The temporal evolution of these indices and the comparison between calchments show the signiflcant recorded changes whÎch favour the increase of surfaces contributing la mn-off between 1990 and /997. The interest of Ihese indices is to identify areas sensitive to run-off and to act as a decision supporl tool for a lerritorial management policy aimed al run-off reduclion on catchments. The outlook of this study is to generalize these parameters for regional applications.