National Base Map of Australia with Topographic and Land Cover Data

Geoscience Australia's seamless topographic map service covers the entire continent, its outer islands, and Antarctic territories. The map integrates data from multiple sources, including Geoscience Australia's GEODATA TOPO 250K product, OpenStreetMap, and the Australian Collaborative Land Use and Management Program. Topographic information was checked in 2008 and supplemented in 2009, with limited field verification.

Use Cases

• Create custom thematic maps based on the underlying topographic, hydrographic, and cultural features.
• Perform geospatial analysis for land use planning based on the aggregated ACLUMP vegetation layer.
• Develop terrain models and relief visualizations based on the processed SRTM DEM data.
• Integrate as a basemap for web mapping applications using the WMTS service format.

Strengths

• Covers a vast geographic area including mainland Australia, external territories, and the Australian Antarctic Territory.
• Integrates data from multiple authoritative sources, including Geoscience Australia, the Australian Antarctic Division, and OpenStreetMap.
• Includes specific high-resolution mapping for Christmas Island (1:30,000 scale) and Cocos (Keeling) Islands (1:25,000 scale).

Limitations

• Limited field checking was undertaken; the description notes some information may not be accurate.
• Topographic information was primarily checked and supplemented in 2008-2009; some features may be outdated.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia, Australian Antarctic Division, OpenStreetMap, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Natural Earth.

Collection Method

Compiled from multiple topographic mapping datasets, satellite imagery, and contributed sources.

Time Range

Data checked in 2008-2009; SRTM data acquired February 2000.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-27 18:26:04.243411; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australia, including Norfolk, Lord Howe, Macquarie, Cocos (Keeling), Christmas, Heard and McDonald Islands, and the Australian Antarctic Territory.