Living England – a habitat probability map of England

Stage in GSE Lifecyle

Primary stage : Create

Related stage(s) : Define/Design | Build Capability

Living England is a large-scale habitat mapping project which is based on up-to-date open-source satellite imagery, a collection of ancillary data layers, accurate habitat records and a machine-learning classification approach.

Under the Natural Capital & Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) programme, this project aims to map habitat diversity across England at a spatial scale and detail that allows planned land management of protected sites and the wider landscape. As members of the Government Science & Engineering (GSE) Profession, the Living England team have effectively collaborated with field ecologists in NCEA and the Natural England Field Unit, technical Earth observation specialists in Natural England and been able to:

  1. Improve the ground-based training dataset with bespoke field data collection and an updated training point validation workflow (eliminating outliers), which is fundamental to the accuracy of the habitat prediction model.
  2. Develop and implement a powerful and automated cloud / cloud shadow detection, masking and image mosaicking process to produce 99.7% cloud-free satellite image mosaics for England as inputs into the machine learning model.
  3. Produce an updated version of the Living England machine-learning habitat classification model and mapped output, including an in-depth accuracy assessment, a report, and recommendations for future improvements.
  4. Publish the Living England habitat probability map under an Open Government Licence.

Results are that:

  1. The programme team is able to use remotely sensed data that is sufficiently mature to be one of three data collection approaches, enabling the NCEA to truly integrate and monitor at system scale.
  2. This will improve local baseline environmental mapping and support decision making for Defra and Natural England’s policies and delivery.
  3. Wider impacts, such as how Living England can contribute to habitat restoration and change detection, are also in development for future years.

Map showing the Living England Phase III plan.

Team

Natural Capital & Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA)

Department(s)

Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)

Contact Details

Email : NCEAprogramme@defra.gov.uk

Description

NCEA is a long-term flagship programme to transform landscape decision-making in England. Through a pioneering partnership between Defra, Natural England, Environment Agency, Forest Research and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, it blends capability, expertise and experience to build a richer, more comprehensive picture of our terrestrial and water environments and how they are changing. It will produce open access products for a variety of end users, such as maps and data reports.