Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, formerly Institute of Terrestrial Ecology

About the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
The Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, ITE Monks Wood is part of the Natural Environment Research Council's Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH). CEH's mission in ecological research is: "To advance the science of ecology through high-quality and internationally recognised research, leading to a better understanding of the physical, chemical and biological processes relating to land and freshwater and living organisms within these environments."

For further information about ITE and CEH see http://www.nmw.ac.uk/ite
or http://www.ceh-nerc.ac.uk/index.html

and for information on the Natural Environment Research Council see:
http://www.nerc.ac.uk/

The Land Cover Map of Great Britain was created by the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology (ITE), from data collected by the American Landsat satellite in the years 1988-91. One of the satellite's sensors - the Thematic Mapper - measured the reflection of visible and infra-red radiation from the Earth's surface. Analysis of these data enabled 'matching' of certain reflectances to particular types of vegetation. It was possible to distinguish many different types of land cover, both semi-natural and man-made. Summer and winter data were analysed so that semi-natural vegetation, present all year could be distinguished from arable land (bare in winter) or urban land (bare all year). Following the initial analysis the Land Cover Map was created, the first of its kind for Great Britain. The map provides, for every 25m square on the ground, a value that corresponds to one of 25 different types or classes of vegetation. In order to clarify the classes, the examples on this CD have been simplified to show 17 classes.

The dataset has been in use since 1993, by academic, government and commercial organisations, for a huge variety of applications. Some examples are:

For more information on the dataset see http://www.nmw.ac.uk/ite/lcm.html

A new Land Cover Map for the year 2000 is being created as part of the Countryside Survey 2000; it will take full advantage of developments in technology since 1990, and will be released in November 2000. For information see: http://www.cs2000.org.uk/, see under 'Components, Module 7', (Land Cover Map 2000).

Contact:
Land Cover Map (S. Wallis)
CEH Monks Wood
Abbots Ripton
Huntingdon Cambs, PE17 2LS

Tel ** 44 (0)1487 773381
Fax ** 44 (0)1487 773467
Email s.wallis@ceh.ac.uk