The UK land cover map 2000: Planning, construction and calibration of a remotely sensed, user-oriented map of broad habitats

Abstract

Land cover map 2000 (LCM2000) is a comprehensive survey of UK broad habitats giving vector digital maps from segment-based classification of remotely sensed satellite data. This paper examines the influence of users in designing LCM2000 and the difficulties in applying a user-defined classification. It assesses problems and successes through comparisons with a sample-based field survey. These suggest that LCM2000 accuracy at broad habitat level may be around 80–85%; however, it was not possible fully to discriminate errors in LCM2000 from those of the field survey or from mismatches in scales, resolutions and survey dates. Calibration generated broad habitat cover statistics from LCM2000 data to field survey equivalence. These take full account of the heterogeneity of a study area, helping to generate accurate statistics, including those at local level where the field survey cannot operate effectively. The paper concludes that the comprehensive and extensive coverage from remote sensing comes closer than alternative methods to meeting users needs. However, it recognises that producers of remotely sensed information need to understand better the needs of users, and users need to appreciate what the technology can and cannot deliver. This paper adds some benefits of hindsight to the process of communication.