Christmas Island Vegetation and Clearing Dataset

Brief description

The Christmas Island Vegetation and Clearing Map was developed through a collaborative project by Geoscience Australia, Christmas Island Phosphates, and Christmas Island National Park during the 2013/2014 financial year. The map classifies the full extent of Christmas Island into vegetation and land cover classes. The dataset contains four attribute fields; - Level 1 classification - Level 2 classification - Mean tree height (Mean_TreeH) - Area (square m) The majority of data was gathered in 2011, with an exception being the rehabilitation boundaries which are up to date as of May 2014. The data represent the best position achievable with the limited resources available during the project's timespan. Geoscience Australia recognises that some data inputs could be improved with additional field checking. The boundaries of cleared areas have been verified in some cases only and may extend into primary, uncleared vegetation in places; ground-truth verification is strongly advised. Consequently, this information should not be relied upon as the sole information source when making operational decisions.

Lineage

Maintenance and Update Frequency: unknown

Statement: The 2014 Christmas Island Vegetation and Clearing dataset was produced using an initial segmentation process in eCognition (based on canopy height, foliage cover, elevation and orthophotography-RGB), followed by a semi-automated classification process in ArcMap. Field visits and stakeholder collaboration meetings were carried out in May 2014. A detailed description of the lineage is included in the metadata document available for download.