ACT Canopy Cover 2020: Urban Vegetation Statistics for Canberra

ACT Canopy Estimate Statistics 2020 provides the estimated percentage coverage of vegetation above 3 meters for blocks, divisions, and road polygons in the Australian Capital Territory. The dataset is derived from LiDAR data captured in April 2020 and was completed by a collaboration between CED and TCCS, ACT Government. The total tree canopy cover estimate for Canberra's urban divisions in 2020 is 22.5%.

Use Cases

• Assess urban heat island mitigation potential based on canopy coverage percentages.
• Monitor urban forest strategy targets using the 22.5% total canopy cover estimate for Canberra.
• Model urban habitat connectivity based on vegetation coverage across block and division polygons.
• Plan for urban cooling and living infrastructure based on the geospatial canopy footprint data.

Strengths

• Derived from LiDAR data captured at 12ppm, suggesting a high-resolution source.
• Provides a specific total canopy cover estimate of 22.5% for Canberra's urban divisions in 2020.
• Covers multiple spatial units: blocks, divisions, and road polygons.
• Has a defined update schedule of every 5 years.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Comparison to the 2015 canopy data is not advised due to methodological differences.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

ACT Government Geospatial Data Catalogue (ACTmapi), derived from LiDAR data by Aerometrex and ACT Government.

Collection Method

LiDAR point clouds processed with ArcGIS to produce canopy footprints for vegetation above 3m, then aggregated to polygon statistics.

Time Range

April 2020

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-27 15:17:36.127515; update schedule is every 5 years.

Geography

Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and region, using GDA 2020 MGA Zone 55 coordinate system.