EarthTrack (Living Wales) Ground Validation Points for Land Cover and Land Cover Change (3rd Party Data)
The EARTHTRACK app has been specifically designed to allow a wide range of users to collect ground truth data that then supports a) spatial retrieval and validation of attributes with pre-defined units (e.g., m, %) or categories (e.g., species type) from EO data (by allowing measurement and recording of these on the ground) and b) validation of derived land cover and change classifications obtained from satellite and airborne data. Earth Track points include near real time and historical records of observations of land cover and change on the ground that are geographically referenced (typically < 3-5 m positional accuracy) with well-defined categories that mirror those mapped at the national level through Living Wales (wales.livingearth.online). These points have been collected by the EarthTrack mobile application, which has been developed using Open Data Kit software and functionality but is being translated (in 2021/22) to a professional version available to be made available on the app stores and allowing use across major operating systems. All points are used to validate the land cover and land cover change maps from 2018 onwards and into the future, including in near real time. The Living Wales 10 m national land cover maps for Wales are constructed from environmental descriptors with predefined units (e.g., m, %) or codes (e.g., for lifeform or leaf type) retrieved or classified respectively primarily from satellite sensor data and according to the according to the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) Version 2 taxonomy (Di Gregorio, 2005). The EarthTrack mobile application exactly replicates how these land cover classes are constructed but at the ground level. The land cover change information also replicates that of the land cover maps for Wales, which is based on evidence, and uses the Global Change Taxonomy (with an associated glossary). This describes change across global environments according to at least 230 classes, with these defined according to the notation ‘impacts (pressures)’. These categories are derived from the Drivers-Pressures-States-Impacts-Response framework, where the states define the physical, chemical and/or biological characteristics of an environment. Impacts are discerned from state changes (either one or many) and result from pressures associated with abiotic or biotic events or processes (e.g., fires, droughts) or anthropogenic activities (e.g., ploughing, timber harvesting) with these driven primarily by climate/weather and economy. Di Gregorio, A.: Land Cover Classification System (LCCS). Classification concepts and user manual for software version 2. FAO Environment and Natural Resources Series, 8, 190 pp (2005).
- Identification
- Extent
- Distribution
- Quality
- Keywords
- Spatial Reference System
- Content
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- Maintenance
- Metadata
Identification
- Identifier
- EXT_DS124935
- Metadata Language
- English
- Lineage
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EarthTrack points can be recorded by any individual who has downloaded and installed the EarthTrack mobile application on their mobile device. Spatial accuracy will depend on the individual device used for recording observations and the reliability of observations on the components used to generate the land cover classification and the impact and pressure categories will depend on the knowledge of the person using EarthTrack. The data is provided to NRW as open data under a Creative Commons licences that requires an attribution (Living wales 2021) on the data and that any derived data MUST be distributed under a CC-BY-SA licence.
- Additional Information
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Earth Track website: https://earthtrack.aber.ac.uk/ , which allows for download of the mobile (ODK version) and the ground data points as and when acquired. Data for Wales with photographs for each point (landscape, up and down) can be viewed by clicking on points on the earthtrack website (select LAND > WALES). Living Wales website: https://wales.livingearth.online/ gives access to Living Wales land cover and change maps for Wales (go to Geoportal and select year and environmental descriptor). UN FAO LCCS Website: http://www.fao.org/land-water/land/land-governance/land-resources-planning-toolbox/category/details/en/c/1036361/ .
- Dataset Reference Date (Publication)
- 2017-04-11
Extent
Extent
- Geographic Extent
- Wales (WLS)
Bounding Box
Distribution
Distribution
- Format Type and Description
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Geographic Information System
Geographic Information System
()
- Specification
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Web Feature Service (WFS) https://geoportal.livingearth.online/download/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
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Geographic Information System
Geographic Information System
()
OnLine resource
- Name of the resource
- Description
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World Wide Web page
- Function
- Information
Quality
Data quality
- Quality Scope
- Dataset
- Lineage
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EarthTrack points can be recorded by any individual who has downloaded and installed the EarthTrack mobile application on their mobile device. Spatial accuracy will depend on the individual device used for recording observations and the reliability of observations on the components used to generate the land cover classification and the impact and pressure categories will depend on the knowledge of the person using EarthTrack. The data is provided to NRW as open data under a Creative Commons licences that requires an attribution (Living wales 2021) on the data and that any derived data MUST be distributed under a CC-BY-SA licence.
Keywords
Keywords
- NRW Thesaurus
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- 3rd Party Data
- Third Party Data
- land cover (landcover)
- Type
- Theme
Citation
- Date (Publication)
- 2023-12-31
Spatial Reference System
- Code
- NONE
Content
Content Information
NRW Profile
Custom Elements
Constraints
Constraints
Limitations on Public Access and Use
- Restriction type
- Other restrictions
Access Constraints Directive
- Limitations
- no limitations
Access Constraints Text
- Other constraints
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This dataset is wholly owned by Living Wales. NRW may provide access to this dataset on request, however, enquirers are advised to request access from the owner/originator directly, rather than NRW.
Use Constraints
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- Other restrictions
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© Living Wales, 2021 Data may be re-used under the terms of the 3rd Party Open Data licence. It is the recipient's responsibility to ensure the data is fit for the intended purpose. Attribution Statement: © Living Wales and Database Rights 2021.