Bush Network Contribution: High Surface Water Connectivity Areas

Network contribution area scores identify regions with high potential for surface water flow into river networks in Northern Ireland. The scores were calculated within SAGA GIS using inputs from the CEH Land Cover 2007 map, Met Office average rainfall data, and a 5-meter Digital Terrain Model. The 'High contribution' category is defined as areas scoring above one standard deviation from the mean.

Use Cases

• Identifying critical source areas for surface runoff in hydrological models based on land cover, rainfall, and topography.
• Visualizing high-contribution zones for water connectivity in web maps and dashboards for environmental monitoring.
• Informing land management decisions to mitigate flood risk or improve water quality by targeting high-contribution areas.

Strengths

• Derived from established, authoritative input datasets: CEH Land Cover 2007, Met Office rainfall, and a 5m DTM.
• Cross-platform presence on EU and UK open data portals indicates official recognition and accessibility.
• Clear methodological definition: 'High contribution' boundary is set at +1 standard deviation from the score distribution.

Limitations

• Specific column names and data schema are unknown, limiting immediate analytical use.
• The core input land cover data is from 2007, which may not reflect current land use conditions.
• Spatial coverage is confirmed only for Northern Ireland; applicability to the rest of the UK is unclear.

Provenance

Source

Government Digital Service (UK), derived from SciMAP application outputs within SAGA GIS.

Collection Method

GIS analysis combining land cover, rainfall, and topographic data to calculate network contribution scores.

Time Range

Primary input data (CEH Land Cover) is from 2007.

Freshness

2026-07-08 (most recent platform update)

Geography

Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.