Land Cover, Circa 2000 - Vector

Description

Land Cover information is the result of vectorization of raster thematic data originating from classified Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 ortho-images, for agricultural and forest areas of Canada, and for Northern Territories. The forest cover was produced by the Earth Observation for Sustainable Development (EOSD) project, an initiative of the Canadian Forest Service (CFS) with the collaboration of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and in partnership with the provincial and territorial governments. The agricultural coverage is produced by the National Land and Water Information Service (NLWIS) of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). Northern Territories land cover was realized by the Canadian Centre of Remote Sensing (CCRS).

Land Cover data are classified according to a harmonized legend build from the partner's legends. This legend is principally based on the legend described in following publication: EOSD Land Cover Classification Legend Report, on which CFS and AAFC collaborated. Some classes related to Northern environments where added in order to meet the interpretation of the Northern land cover classification experts.

Land Cover vector data are closest as possible to the source (original raster data). Slight differences can occur because the raster data goes through a data portrayal before being vectorized in order to enhance visual representation such as minimum size, smoothness of polygons and geometry.

This product aims to offer a Canadian integrated Land Cover base produced from various available classified satellite data. The Land Cover base dating extended from 1996 to 2005 nevertheless 80% of the Land Cover base come from 1999 to 2001 defined by circa 2000.

For more detail on Land Cover data product development, please refer to GeoBase Land Cover Product User Needs Assessment [pdf 2.4 MB].

Because it was produced from classified imagery, Land Cover vector product is linked to a given thematic data accuracy related to classified images process. This means it is possible that entities may not represent the right classes, for instance, a wetland polygon may be overlapping an agricultural area, or a forest may be in reality a plain. These omission or commissions may either be temporal variations and/or classification errors.

Download Land Cover, Circa 2000 - Vector Fact Sheet [pdf 225 KB]

Documentation

Land Cover, Circa 2000 - Vector Data Product

  • Land Cover, Circa 2000 - Vector, Data Product Specifications, Edition 1.0 [pdf 406 KB]
  • Land Cover, Circa 2000 - Vector, Feature Catalogue, Edition 1.0 [pdf 75 KB]
  • Land Cover, Circa 2000 - Vector, Product Distribution Formats, Edition 1.0 [pdf 50 KB]

National Vector Data

  • National Vector Data, Identification Rules, Edition 2.0 [pdf 63 KB]

Metadata

For a complete description of collection metadata, see the Land Cover, Circa 2000 - Vector, Collection Metadata.

Collection and Dataset Metadata comply with FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC Metadata Workbook & Graphical Representation, pdf 960 KB).

Use and Restrictions

All distributed Land Cover datasets should be accessed and used relatively to the GeoBase Unrestricted Use Licence Agreement.

Data Discrepancies

This product is subject to Discrepancies processing provided by the Centre for Topographic Information from Natural Resources Canada. A discrepancy is defined as any deviation from the product's Standards and Specifications. Search for discrepancies related to Land Cover datasets.

Data Format

Land Cover vector datafiles are available in GML (Geography Markup Language) and ESRI Shapefile formats.

Free Data Viewer

Following are few links to freeware which can be used to display downloaded Land Cover data.