addendum - data.daff.gov.au

Addendum to the

Guidelines for land use mapping in Australia: principles, procedures and

definitions, 4th edition

Prepared by the Australian Collaborative Land Use and Management Program Partners

April 2015

Addendum to the Guidelines for land use mapping in Australia: principles, procedures and definitions, 4th edition

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© Commonwealth of Australia 2015 Ownership of intellectual property rights Unless otherwise noted, copyright (and any other intellectual property rights, if any) in this publication is owned by the Commonwealth of Australia (referred to as the Commonwealth). Creative Commons licence All material in this publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia Licence, save for content supplied by third parties, logos and the Commonwealth Coat of Arms.

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia Licence is a standard form licence agreement that allows you to copy, distribute, transmit and adapt this publication provided you attribute the work. A summary of the licence terms is available from creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en. The full licence terms are available from creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/legalcode. Cataloguing data Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences 2015, Addendum to the Guidelines for land use mapping in Australia: principles, procedures and definitions, 4th Edition, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, Canberra, April. CC BY 3.0. ISBN 978-1-74323-232-3 ABARES project 43524 Internet Addendum to the Guidelines for land use mapping in Australia: principles, procedures and definitions, 4th Edition is available at agriculture.gov.au/abares/publications. Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) Postal address GPO Box 1563 Canberra ACT 2601 Switchboard +61 2 6272 2010 Facsimile +61 2 6272 2001 Email [email protected] Web agriculture.gov.au/abares Inquiries about the licence and any use of this document should be sent to [email protected]. The Australian Government acting through the Department of Agriculture, represented by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, has exercised due care and skill in preparing and compiling the information and data in this publication. Notwithstanding, the Department of Agriculture, ABARES, its employees and advisers disclaim all liability, including for negligence and for any loss, damage, injury, expense or cost incurred by any person as a result of accessing, using or relying upon information or data in this publication to the maximum extent permitted by law.

Acknowledgements This Addendum supports the existing Guidelines for land use mapping in Australia. It reflects current experience in land use mapping with national, state and territory agency partners involved in the Australian Collaborative Land Use and Management Program (ACLUMP). The program is coordinated by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES). Support for the development of the land use classification and mapping methods, and for the land use mapping undertaken to date has been provided by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture. Substantial financial contributions have also been made by each of the state and territory agencies collaborating in this work.

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Table of contents

Introduction .......................................................................................................... 4

Catchment scale mapping ....................................................................................... 5

Land use mapping goals .......................................................................... 5

Land use mapping applications ................................................................. 5

Land use mapping status ......................................................................... 6

Land use mapping procedure – updating using ancillary data ....................... 9

Reliability of land use maps, improving confidence and mapping change ..... 11

Decision rules for land use mapping ........................................................ 14

Validation and reporting ........................................................................ 15

National scale mapping ......................................................................................... 16

Land use mapping status ....................................................................... 16

Appendix A: ACLUMP partners ............................................................................... 18

References .......................................................................................................... 19

Further information .............................................................................................. 20

List of figures

Figure 1 Applications of catchment scale land use data, as at March 2015 .................... 7

Figure 2 Currency of catchment scale land use mapping as at March 2015 ................... 8

Figure 3 Scale of Catchment Scale Land Use for Australia as at March 2015 ................. 9

Figure 4 Likelihood of a particular land use changing to another ALUM code ............... 13

Figure 5 National scale land use data for 2010-11 (Interim Version 5) ....................... 16

List of tables

Table 1 Suggested number of validation points by area for each land use class ........... 15


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Introduction The way that land is used has profound effects on economic, social and environmental systems. Land use change arising from intensification, diversification and innovation provides increased economic returns to farmers, improved productivity and outcomes that have implications for natural resources such as soil, water and biodiversity. Information about the extent of land use and land use change is therefore central to decision-making in Australia around issues such as food and fibre security, water management, mining (including coal seam gas extraction), biodiversity protection, climate variability, urban growth and community development.

Land use describes the purpose assigned to land. It refers to the purpose which the land is committed, including the production of goods (such as crops, timber and manufacturing) and services (such as defence, recreation, biodiversity and natural resources protection).

The Addendum provides guidance on the implementation of mapping principles and procedures outlined in the Guidelines for land use mapping in Australia: principles, procedures and definitions, 4th edition. The aim is to ensure that catchment scale mapping is relevant, up-to-date and reliable for decision-making. It focuses on the goals of catchment scale land use mapping, the potential to update land use mapping using ancillary information, and methods to improve the reliability of and confidence in catchment scale land use mapping. It provides advice on methods for ensuring that mapping meets benchmarks with respect to accuracy, scale and currency in catchment scale land use mapping.

The Guidelines and this Addendum provide an agreed set of principles for jurisdictional mapping. As the quality and availability of ancillary data and image processing capabilities improve, these principles will be reviewed periodically to maintain relevance. The Addendum provides additional standards and procedures to the Guidelines that underpin the current catchment scale land use mapping program.

National scale land use mapping is also an important part of Australian Collaborative Land Use and Management Program (ACLUMP) with an update on national scale land use mapping provided as part of the Addendum.

The Guidelines for land use mapping in Australia: principles, procedures and definitions, 4th edition and Addendum has been developed in collaboration with national, state and territory agencies as part of the ACLUMP. The role of the ACLUMP partners is to define the methods relevant to national and catchment scale land use mapping. The state and territory agencies are responsible for mapping within their jurisdictions. The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) is responsible for national coordination and national mapping products. ACLUMP is a model example of a collaborative, cross-government approach to producing an essential dataset that would be too large a task for any one agency alone. A listing of ACLUMP member agencies is provided at Appendix A. While the Australian Capital Territory is not currently represented on ACLUMP it participates in the program.


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Catchment scale mapping

Land use mapping goals

The catchment scale land use mapping is a comprehensive national program. Its goals are to ensure:

• comprehensive mapping for Australia—coverage to include all of mainland Australia and major islands

• accuracy in mapping—an agreed attribution accuracy, using the Australian Land Use and Management (ALUM) Classification, of no less than 80 per cent. Where decision rules have been applied to decide on the attribution of a land use code, these are to be provided in the associated metadata/product documentation

• currency in mapping—catchment scale land use mapping with a currency of no more than 5 years old in the intensive agricultural land use zone and no more than 10 years old in the rangelands/pastoral zone

• mapping at a scale relevant to decision-making—defined as being no more than 1:100 000 in the intensive agricultural zone and no more than 1:250 000 in the rangelands/pastoral zone. Finer scale mapping may be conducted in areas of high land use intensity, such as irrigation areas, or areas subject to significant change, such as peri-urban areas.

ACLUMP partners support the catchment scale land use mapping goals set out above. They determine how best to meet these goals in the context of resources, priorities and complementary programs. It is recognised that it may not be possible for jurisdictions to satisfy all the goals, particularly the currency goal. However this should not prevent potential mapping updates from occurring. For example, if limited resources mean that the scale or accuracy of mapping cannot meet the agreed standards, this may be acceptable in some cases where the need to have a more current land use map is greater.

The Guidelines for land use mapping in Australia: principles, procedures and definitions, 4th edition (‘the Guidelines’) are to be used as the agreed standard for land use mapping in Australia.

Land use mapping applications

Land use mapping allows government, land managers and the agricultural sector to:

• describe what we use land for and how land use decisions align with policy goals with environmental, economic and social challenges

• support analysis of the extent and effect of land uses on regional communities • consider the impacts of land use change decisions and assess changes in land use

that result from regulation, policy and incentives.

The demand for land use information is broad and is reflected across the range of issues affecting the agricultural sector. This includes:

• natural disaster management—preparing for, responding to, and evaluating the impact of events such as floods, cyclones, bushfires and drought

• natural resource condition monitoring and investment—setting soundly based targets and monitoring procedures for natural resource investment at national, state, regional and local levels of responsibility

• biodiversity conservation—managing and mitigating the impact of production systems on terrestrial, aquatic, coastal and marine habitats


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• improving water availability and quality—responding to water allocation and efficiency needs; responding to water deficits arising from drought and the need for increased environmental flows; managing water quality, including sediment and nutrient loads

• biosecurity—managing invasive species and minimising the impact of incursions, managing weeds and feral animals and their impact on threatened species and evaluating the risk of disease spread in crops

• agricultural productivity and sustainability—profitable production of food and fibre, adoption of sustainable agricultural practices

• land use planning—supporting regional planning and investment, and strategies for development.

Land use mapping status

The ACLUMP partners are well advanced in meeting the catchment scale land use mapping goals. These are:

1. Comprehensiveness—continental mapping coverage at the catchment scale (excluding parts of the ACT) was completed in 2008. Since then most jurisdictions have remapped areas. The last release of catchment scale data compiled for Australia was in March 2015 and is shown in Figure 1.

2. Accuracy—with some limited exceptions, all land use products have an accuracy assessment of greater than 80 per cent. For jurisdictions that do not directly map using the ALUM Classification, conversion tables have been developed to ensure that land use can be mapped consistently across Australia.

3. Currency—ACLUMP partners have determined priorities for updating land use mapping as many of the intensive agricultural areas are greater than 5 years old and those for pastoral areas in Queensland and Western Australia are greater than 10 years old (see Figure 2). Updated mapping is currently underway in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia.

4. Scale—one of the major strengths of catchment scale land use mapping is the high resolution at which it is produced. Most intensive agricultural areas are mapped at either 1:25,000 or 1:50,000 (see Figure 3).

The primary challenges for land use mapping are maintaining accuracy and currency. Methods for addressing these issues are discussed below. The major focus is upon measures that enable use of ancillary data and land use change assessment, contributing to improved accuracy and currency of catchment land use.


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Figure 1 Applications of catchment scale land use data, as at March 2015


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Figure 2 Currency of catchment scale land use mapping as at March 2015

Note: South East South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, South West Western Australia, South East Queensland, and Moree, Hunter, Sydney and Western Sydney in New South Wales have been updated since the release of the last national compilation (Catchment Scale Land Use of Australia – Update March 2014). Areas shown in cross-hatching are those where land use mapping is currently underway. Source: ABARES


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Figure 3 Scale of Catchment Scale Land Use for Australia as at March 2015

Source: ABARES

Land use mapping procedure – updating using ancillary data

The Guidelines for land use mapping in Australia: principles, procedures and definitions, 4th edition outlines the procedure for catchment scale land use mapping in Australia. While this procedure produces high resolution datasets with very high accuracy, it requires a substantial investment in time and resources. Datasets can take almost a year and a team of experts to complete, which can result in datasets being dated by the time they are released, losing some of their impact as inputs into management and policy decisions.

Since publication of the Guidelines in 2011, a number of jurisdictions have investigated the use of ancillary datasets as major inputs into the land use mapping process. For example, Victoria sources most of their land use information from the Valuer-General’s dataset, while Tasmania could potentially source 80 per cent of the state’s area from ancillary data (for non-agricultural land uses). Investigations in Queensland have shown that ancillary datasets can also be very useful in mapping non-agricultural land uses such as conservation and forest areas, intensive uses (apart from intensive horticulture) and water areas.


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Potential ancillary datasets that could be included in land use mapping may include:

• Valuer-General information • conservation areas/estates • information collected for biosecurity purposes (e.g. location of dairies, piggeries,

poultry farms, etc) • forestry and plantation information • wetlands • zoning/planning information • built environment datasets • vegetation datasets • irrigation districts • industry locations • remotely sensed information (such as the Queensland cropping frequency report)

Known limitations of ancillary datasets include:

• they are not necessarily fit-for-purpose and can vary in scale • one land use assigned to a single parcel rather than each land use entity • updates of datasets may be ad-hoc and temporally variable • possible inconsistencies in mapping across the state (e.g. different interpretations

by valuers) • unknown/uncertain accuracy and/or validation • there may not always be a 1:1 relationship with the ALUM Classification • limited ancillary datasets for agricultural land uses (especially for determining

whether agriculture is dryland or irrigated)

Under the Guidelines, precedence in catchment land use mapping is given to field observation and expert knowledge (defined as primary data). The ACLUMP partners have agreed that secondary sources may also be used where the reliability, accuracy and appropriateness of use has been established. These are termed authoritative ancillary data as they support and/or augment primary data collection. Authoritative ancillary data have cost effective advantages given the high cost of primary data collection and the capacity for rapid updating. In jurisdictions where resources are limited, ancillary data with assessable accuracy, currency and fitness for use can be used to derive land use information.

The ACLUMP partners recognise that the use of authoritative ancillary data is appropriate for updating catchment scale mapping. This includes national conservation and forestry data sets that are regularly compiled using nationally agreed protocols. The number of authoritative datasets used will be determined by the partners in the context of operational needs.

Victoria has taken this approach and maps land use solely using Valuer-General information which is updated annually. Given the frequency and reliability of this dataset, Victoria can now map land use on an annual basis. The Valuer-General information is interpreted together with land cover and converted into an ALUM code. Queensland uses a GIS (Geographic Information System) decision tree approach to initially model land use. Where Queensland has known certainty in deriving the land use from ancillary datasets (wetlands, conservation estates, plantations, water), the model is applied directly to compile the updated mapping layer. Where certainty is lower, the ancillary datasets are used as an interpretation aid together with satellite and aerial imagery.

The use of authoritative ancillary datasets is one method to improve the reliability and confidence of ACLUMP land use products. The following section outlines some methods that can be used to assess the reliability of existing land use products and the


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information that could be supplied with land use products to improve confidence in their use.

Reliability of land use maps, improving confidence and mapping change

The reliability of the mapping products relies on regular updates to maintain the currency of land use information. The baseline land use data is revised and improved in addition to compiling the new land use map, to enable accurate and defensible land use change maps to be derived. Methods to provide confidence and understanding of land use change are required.

At the time of mapping, it is aimed to have an overall spatial and thematic attribute accuracy of 80 per cent (relative to the scale of mapping). As a result, catchment scale land use mapping is very reliable for the time it is mapped. However, land uses change over time and so the older a land use product becomes, the less reliable it may be in reporting on the current land use. There is, therefore, a need to provide some form of reliability or confidence information to allow users to accurately interpret the land use information relative to its age or currency.

Updating the land use and deriving land use change involves an extensive use of resources and is not always necessary. In many parts of Australia the likelihood of major change in land use is relatively low and/or predictable. In other cases methods for systematic assessment can be used to inform the rate and location of land use change. ACLUMP has determined that reliability and mapping confidence can be improved by a combination of measures or options (in order of preference):

1. Periodic updates—ideally every 5 years in intensive agricultural zone and every 10 years in the pastoral/rangelands areas, based on needs. Mapping is to the agreed national standards. Special needs may define more and/or less frequent mapping and mapping could be selective for particular areas.

2. Updating with ancillary datasets—authoritative ancillary datasets can be used to improve and selectively update specific land uses and/or regions based on need and availability of reliable data.

3. An assessment of likelihood of change—providing information on the likely change to be expected since an area was last mapped. This could be based on the likelihood of particular land uses changing (Figure 4) or supporting information from ancillary datasets.

Option 1 is the preferred method to ensure that catchment scale land use mapping remains up-to-date and consistent across the country. The revision of the baseline dataset to modify (improve line work/spatial accuracy) and/or capture previously omitted land use features is in addition to areas of actual land use change in the new map. As regular re-mapping is a resource intensive exercise, other methods for assessing and improving the reliability of land use products need to be investigated.

Between mapping periods often the actual area of land use that has changed (as a result of actual change rather than improving mapping methods or incorrect allocation) is usually small. For example, when Queensland updated the Great Barrier Reef Catchments from 1999 to 2009, the land use change (at secondary level of ALUM) was 2.69% of the region or 1,037,919 hectares. This is plausible given that 81% of the region is Production from relatively natural environments (DSITIA, 2012). The recently updated mapping in South-East Queensland (2011-2013) showed that 10.3% or 243,923 hectares of the region changed from 1999 (DSITIA, 2014). Investigating


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elements of Option 2 and Option 3 may be useful to direct resources to areas where change is likely to have occurred. This may lead to areas being selectively remapped where resources are limited.

Option 2 can be used to partially update areas where authoritative ancillary datasets are available. For example, areas gazetted as reserves since an area was last mapped or areas converted to forestry operations could be updated if there were reliable conservation and forestry datasets available. In some cases these may be quite large areas and cutting them into an existing land use product could result in improving the currency for a large proportion of the map. At the national level, ABARES is investigating whether there are authoritative national datasets that could be used to update catchment scale land use mapping across the country.

Option 3 does not involve actually updating areas of an existing land use product but provides some key information to help interpret the accuracy and currency of the existing product. By investigating whether land uses are likely to have changed since last being mapped, the user can get an understanding of which parts of the map have not changed, and are therefore still current, and those which are likely to have changed and should be used with caution. Three useful methods to determine the likelihood of change are to:

• analyse the dynamic versus static nature of ALUM codes • locate areas that may have changed based on ancillary datasets • locate areas that may have changed based on expert knowledge

Figure 4 shows the likelihood of a land use changing once assigned a particular ALUM land use code. The classes on the edges of the curve (conservation classes on the left, water and intensive classes on the right) are the least likely to change. Incidentally, these land uses are often those easier to update using ancillary datasets. Once a class is assigned one of these ALUM codes the likelihood of change is low, so even if the mapping is out-of-date, the confidence in the mapping is still high. The classes in the middle of the curve in Figure 4 (predominantly agricultural land uses) have a higher likelihood of change. The more out-of-date a land use product becomes, the less confidence we have in areas mapped to these dynamic classes as being accurate.


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Figure 4 Likelihood of a particular land use changing to another ALUM code

Note: Figure based on national assessment and will vary by region.

The relative likelihood of change is a function of two factors (for any given scale and currency):

• likelihood of change • period since re-mapping

For example, a national park mapped 10 years ago is still likely to be a national park and there is a high level of confidence in the mapping. We would be much less confident that an area mapped two years ago as irrigated rice is still irrigated rice.

Ancillary datasets and expert knowledge can also be used to give an indication of the confidence/reliability of a land use product. If an authoritative source is suggesting that the land use is different to the land use mapped, then the confidence in the mapping for that area would be low. Conversely, if ancillary datasets and/or expert opinion agree with the land use product then the confidence in the mapping is high, even if the area was last mapped some time ago.

It is recommended that jurisdictions conduct an assessment of the reliability and confidence of existing land use products every 3-4 years. Assessments can be based on land use codes most likely to change as per Figure 4 and ancillary data sets or expert knowledge. Results can be used to prioritise remapping by catchment and land use. ABARES is currently conducting a reliability assessment of the catchment scale land use mapping at the national level based on the likelihood of an ALUM class changing, the currency and scale of the mapping.

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Decision rules for land use mapping

The land use mapping procedure used by ACLUMP partners is single purpose mapping, that is, land use is mapped at a point in time. In areas where land uses are constantly changing (e.g. crop/pasture rotations) or it is difficult to determine the land use through satellite imagery and ancillary data (e.g. areas of native cover) decisions and assumptions have to be made when assigning an ALUM code. Resolving multiple land uses at the same location can require the use of multiple data sources and expert opinion to determine the prime use.

ACLUMP partners have developed decision rules to remove uncertainty when addressing common ALUM Classification issues. The Guidelines present some agreed decision rules based on experience gained in national, state and territory land use mapping programs. Additionally, listed below are some state specific decision rules for Queensland and New South Wales.

Queensland Land Use Mapping Program (QLUMP):

• All land use classes are attributed consistently to the secondary level of the ALUM Classification and where possible to the tertiary level. For instance, QLUMP consistently maps the land use classes of sugar and cotton (dryland and irrigated) to tertiary level.

• Effort is given to distinguishing between an actual land use change and a rotation. For example, an area that is usually cropped, but is not used for that particular purpose in the year mapped, is still mapped as cropping in the updated dataset. This is not considered an actual land use change, but rather a rotation, as the primary land use for that paddock is still cropping. Areas under a crop/pasture rotation will not be mapped as grazing until there is evidence of pasture regrowth.

• Livestock grazing occurs on a range of pasture types including native and exotic as well as mixtures of both. Identifying and separating these using imagery, aerial photography and field observation is difficult and unreliable. Therefore, the ALUM secondary classes of grazing modified pastures and irrigated grazing modified pastures are not mapped explicitly by QLUMP.

• The distinction between (dryland) cropping and irrigated cropping is not always evident. Proximity to water sources (watercourse or dam) as well as information from water entitlements (irrigation licences), field survey and local knowledge are used to confirm areas of irrigation where possible. Areas mapped as irrigated cropping are potentially irrigated on a supplementary basis only and may not have been irrigated at all in the mapping year. In Queensland, when mapping coastal/estuary waters, the Mean High Water Spring Tidal Line is used to define the boundary (coastline) of the land and to separate coastal from estuarine waters (the boundary between the internal waters of the mainland and/or offshore marine islands and the sea).

New South Wales

• In New South Wales, blocks of trees with greater than 50 per cent canopy cover are either classed as grazing modified pastures or remnant native cover depending on block size, fencing, disturbance, tracks, terrain, presence of dams, presence of understorey, and other factors.

• A particular crop, such as rice, may always be assumed to be irrigated.

Additional decision rules will be published as they become available.

The ALUM Classification provides the framework for mapping land use in Australia. It is based on an outcome that provides consistency and coherence in mapping products


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nationally. Where attribution of an ALUM code differs to the recommendations of the Guidelines or assumptions have been made when allocating an ALUM code, these decision rules should be clearly presented in the land use product’s supporting documentation.

Validation and reporting

Validation of a land use product is an important step in assessing its accuracy. ACLUMP partners follow the validation methods outlined in the Guidelines. To assess attribute accuracy Table 1 outlines the number of points required for validation (using field-based or high resolution aerial photography) based on the total area and frequency of polygons for each land use class (updated from the Guidelines).

Table 1 Suggested number of validation points by area for each land use class

Area (ha) No. polygons Suggested no. of points

> 1 000 000 70 100 000—1 000 000 > 500 70 100 000—1 000 000 100—500 30 100 000—1 000 000 < 100 15 10 000—100 000 >500 30 10 000—100 000 100—500 15 10 000—100 000 < 100 15 10 000—100 000 >500 15 < 10 000 100—500 10 < 10 000 10—100 10 < 10 000 < 10 Individually verify

In Queensland, the land use classes within the Conservation and Natural Environments are included in the validation process (contrary to Table 4 in the Guidelines), however the grazing modified pastures (dryland and irrigated) land use class is excluded as it not mapped explicitly by QLUMP (grazing areas are assumed to be native unless dairy pastures).

When areas are remapped (Option 1), it is expected that a full validation is undertaken as per the Guidelines. When areas are updated using ancillary datasets (Option 2), if the ancillary datasets are authoritative, no validation is required. If the datasets are not authoritative, some validation will be required for the updated areas. If an assessment of the likelihood of change is provided (Option 3), it can highlight areas that are likely to have changed, and therefore unlikely to be accurate. These are the areas where the map is unreliable and should either be updated or treated with caution.

Mapping products are expected to be supplied with the following documentation:

• Metadata, including method of assessment (desktop and/or field checking), product specific decision rules, validation process, a statement of currency and scale, and a table breaking down the area of each ALUM land use code.

• An assessment of reliability. This is particularly important if an area cannot be completely remapped.

• An assessment of change where an area has been remapped and methods for mapping so each time period are comparable. Queensland conduct their change analyses at the secondary level of the ALUM Classification plus sugar and cotton as these classes are the minimum attribution for their mapping.


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National scale mapping

Land use mapping status

Catchment scale land use maps have very high resolution and accuracy for the time they are mapped. As they differ in currency and scale across the country (as shown in Figure 2 & Figure 3) they are not suitable for nation-wide analysis of changes in land use.

National scale land use mapping is produced by using coarse-scale satellite data (pixel size of 1.1 square kilometres), Australian Bureau of Statistics agricultural statistics and ground control point data for the agricultural land uses and various other digital datasets for the non-agricultural land uses (including the finer resolution catchment scale land use data) (Figure 5). The Guidelines outline in detail the land use mapping procedure used to create the national land use map (ABARES 2011). ABARES national scale land use maps are used for broad-scale land use assessments and for strategic planning and evaluation (ABARES 2011).

Figure 5 National scale land use data for 2010-11 (Interim Version 5)

Source: ABARES

Australia is improving its capacity to track land use change, drawing on information sources including satellite imagery and statistical collections. At this point in time, the


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national scale land use maps, produced by ABARES, are the best available for analysing land use change at the national level. They combine Australian Bureau of Statistics agricultural statistics with other land use information into one complete spatial dataset for Australia. ABARES has released two reports attempting to track land use change at the national level. The first, Landscapes in transition: tracking land use change in Australia (Lesslie et al. 2011), outlines the challenges researchers and policy-makers face in tracking land use in Australia. It identifies concepts for tracking and characterising land use change and provides some national examples. The second, Towards national reporting on agricultural land use change in Australia (Mewett et al. 2013), builds on the first report in scoping our capacity to consistently report on land use change at the national level using currently available national datasets.

National scale land use mapping has been completed for 1992–93, 1993–94, 1996–97, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001–02 and 2005–06. An interim map (Figure 5) for 2010-11 was released in July 2014 with the full version to be released later in 2015. Minor changes to the methodology used to construct the national land use map are discussed in the associated user guide (ABARES 2014). There is now the opportunity to analyse change across the country for a number of key land uses (grazing, cropping and conservation) from 1992-93 to 2010-11. It will also be possible to analyse change for a wider range of land uses between 2005-06 and 2010-11.


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Appendix A: ACLUMP partners As at time of publication the State partners included:

• New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage, and Department of Primary Industries

• Victorian Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources • Queensland Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation • South Australian Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources • Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia • Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment • Northern Territory Department of Land Resource Management.

National partners include:

• Australian Bureau of Statistics • Bureau of Meteorology • Geoscience Australia • Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation • Murray-Darling Basin Authority • Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network • Australian Government Department of Agriculture • ABARES.

Substantial financial contributions have also been made by each of the state and territory agencies collaborating in this work. The state and territory partners are responsible for catchment scale land use mapping in their jurisdiction. Additional financial support has been provided by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. ABARES coordinates the program.


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References

ABARES 2014, User Guide and Caveats for the Land Use of Australia, Interim Version 5, 2010-11, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, Canberra, available at data.daff.gov.au/data/warehouse/luav59ablu/luav5d9ablu11a04mwx______/luAustInt5_UserguideAndCaveats20140701.docx.

ABARES 2011, Guidelines for land use mapping in Australia: principles, procedures and definitions - 4th edition, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, Canberra, available at data.daff.gov.au/anrdl/metadata_files/pe_abares99001806.xml.

DSITIA 2014, Land use summary: South East Queensland NRM region, Queensland Department of Science, Information Technology, Innovation and The Arts, Queensland Government, available at publications.qld.gov.au/storage/f/2014-07-14T08%3A02%3A52.081Z/south-east-queensland-land-use-web.pdf (pdf, 713kb).

DSITIA 2012, Land use summary 1999 – 2009: Great Barrier Reef catchments, Queensland Department of Science, Information Technology, Innovation and The Arts, Queensland Government.

Lesslie R, Mewett J and Walcott J 2011, Landscape in transition: tracking land use change, Science and Economics Insights 2011.2.2, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, Canberra, available at data.daff.gov.au/anrdl/metadata_files/pe_litlud9abll0790111a.xml.

Mewett J, Paplinska J, Kelley G, Lesslie R, Pritchard P and Atyeo C 2013, Towards national reporting on agricultural land use change in Australia, ABARES technical report, Canberra, October, available at data.daff.gov.au/anrdl/metadata_files/pb_nrlucd9ablm08320131011_11a.xml.

http://data.daff.gov.au/data/warehouse/luav59ablu/luav5d9ablu11a04mwx______/luAustInt5_UserguideAndCaveats20140701.docx

http://data.daff.gov.au/data/warehouse/luav59ablu/luav5d9ablu11a04mwx______/luAustInt5_UserguideAndCaveats20140701.docx

http://data.daff.gov.au/anrdl/metadata_files/pe_abares99001806.xml

https://publications.qld.gov.au/storage/f/2014-07-14T08%3A02%3A52.081Z/south-east-queensland-land-use-web.pdf

https://publications.qld.gov.au/storage/f/2014-07-14T08%3A02%3A52.081Z/south-east-queensland-land-use-web.pdf

http://data.daff.gov.au/anrdl/metadata_files/pe_litlud9abll0790111a.xml

http://data.daff.gov.au/anrdl/metadata_files/pb_nrlucd9ablm08320131011_11a.xml


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Further information This document will be updated from time to time. The current version, and further information about land use mapping in Australia, are available from:

Australian Collaborative Land Use and Management Program: www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/aclump

Enquiries should be directed to:

Manager—Land Information ABARES GPO Box 858 Canberra ACT 2601 Phone: 02 6272 3933 Email: [email protected]

Land use data is available through the ACLUMP website (www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/aclump/land-use/data-download) and relevant state and territory agencies:

New South Wales

New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage www.environment.nsw.gov.au

New South Wales Department of Trade & Investment www.trade.nsw.gov.au

South Australia Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources www.environment.sa.gov.au

Victoria

Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources www.economicdevelopment.vic.gov.au

Tasmania Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment www.dpipwe.tas.gov.au

Queensland Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation (Queensland Land Use Mapping Program) www.qld.gov.au/environment/land/vegetation/mapping/qlump/

Northern Territory Department of Land Resource Management www.lrm.nt.gov.au/

Western Australia Department of Agriculture and Food www.agric.wa.gov.au

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http://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/aclump


http://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/aclump/land-use/data-download

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/

http://www.trade.nsw.gov.au/

http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/

http://economicdevelopment.vic.gov.au/

http://www.dpipwe.tas.gov.au/

http://www.qld.gov.au/environment/land/vegetation/mapping/qlump/

http://www.qld.gov.au/environment/land/vegetation/mapping/qlump/

http://www.lrm.nt.gov.au/

http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/

addendum - data.daff.gov.au

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