Section 11 Land Cover Map
The UKCEH Land Cover Maps (LCMs) are parcel-based thematic classifications of satellite image data covering the United Kingdom. The most recent Land Cover Maps release includes LCM 2017, LCM 2018, LCM 2019 (UKCEH 2020b). It also includes a revised LCM 1990 covering the whole of the UK to support comparisons with LCM 2015 and the newer products. Using the revised LCM 1990, quarter-century change datasets have been created by comparison with LCM 2015. We note that these products are based on land cover, rather than land use. Land cover relates to the physical properties of the surface only, not how it is used. For example, clear-felled forest may not appear as forest cover to a satellite sensor, but its land use may remain so if it is to be replanted. Land use is therefore less directly detectable from satellites.
Maps were available for 1990, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019, as a 25-m raster product. Processing involved the reprojecting and merging of data for GB (in OSGB36 coordinates) and NI (in Irish Grid coordinates). We re-classified the 21-class UKCEH Land Cover Map data to the six LULUCF aggregated classes. The table below shows the correspondence between LCM classes and LULUCF classes.
| LCM_ID | LCM_name | LULUCF_ID | LULUCF_name |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Broadleaved Woodland | 1 | forest |
| 2 | Coniferous Woodland | 1 | forest |
| 3 | Arable and Horticulture | 2 | crop |
| 4 | Improved Grassland | 3 | grass |
| 5 | Neutral Grassland | 4 | rough |
| 6 | Calcareous Grassland | 4 | rough |
| 7 | Acid grassland | 4 | rough |
| 8 | Fen, Marsh and Swamp | 4 | rough |
| 9 | Heather | 4 | rough |
| 10 | Heather grassland | 4 | rough |
| 11 | Bog | 4 | rough |
| 12 | Inland Rock | 4 | rough |
| 13 | Saltwater | 0 | NA |
| 14 | Freshwater | 0 | NA |
| 15 | Supra-littoral Rock | 6 | other |
| 16 | Supra-littoral Sediment | 6 | other |
| 17 | Littoral Rock | 6 | other |
| 18 | Littoral sediment | 6 | other |
| 19 | Saltmarsh | 4 | rough |
| 20 | Urban | 5 | urban |
| 21 | Suburban | 5 | urban |
Figure 11.1: Spatial distribution of LULUCF land-use classes in the UK according to LCM.
References
UKCEH. 2020b. “Land Cover Maps.” EIDC. 2020. https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/id/c0078881-7d5a-4641-91e2-c271426bc8a1.