Land Cover Map 1990 (25m raster, N. Ireland)

This dataset consists of the 25m raster version of the Land Cover Map 1990 (LCM1990) for Northern Ireland. The 25m raster product consists of three bands: Band 1 - raster representation of the majority (dominant) class per polygon for 21 target classes; Band 2 - mean per polygon probability as reported by the Random Forest classifier (see supporting information); Band 3 - purity - percentage of the polygon covered by the majority class. The 21 target classes are based on the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) Broad Habitats, which encompass the entire range of UK habitats. This dataset is derived from the vector version of the Land Cover Map, which contains individual parcels of land cover and is the highest available spatial resolution. The 25m raster is the most detailed of the LCM1990 raster products both thematically and spatially, and it is used to derive the 1km products. LCM1990 is a land cover map of the UK which was produced at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology by classifying satellite images (mainly from 1989 and 1990) into 21 Broad Habitat-based classes. It is the first in a series of land cover maps for the UK, which also includes maps for 2000, 2007, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

LCM1990 consists of a range of raster and vector products and users should familiarise themselves with the full range (see related records, the UKCEH web site and the LCM1990 Dataset documentation) to select the product most suited to their needs.

This work was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council award number NE/R016429/1 as part of the UK-SCAPE programme delivering National Capability.