National Base Map WMTS: Topographic Colour Mapping for Australia and Territories

A seamless topographic colour map service covering Australia, its outer islands, external territories, and the Australian Antarctic Territory. The service integrates data from Geoscience Australia, the Australian Antarctic Division, OpenStreetMap, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Topographic information was checked in 2008 using satellite imagery and supplemented in 2009, with limited field checking.

Use Cases

• Create thematic maps based on cultural, hydrography, marine, transport, vegetation, and relief themes mentioned in the description.
• Analyze land use patterns using the aggregated vegetation layer from the Australian Collaborative Land Use and Management Program (ACLUMP).
• Generate regional visualizations for external territories like Christmas Island using the 1:30,000 scale NATMAP dataset.
• Perform elevation analysis using the SRTM-derived digital elevation model (DEM) processed for stripe removal, void filling, and vegetation offset removal.

Strengths

• Covers the entire Australian continent, outer islands, external territories, and Antarctic territory.
• Integrates data from multiple authoritative sources including Geoscience Australia, OpenStreetMap, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
• Includes detailed topographic data at multiple scales, derived from GEODATA TOPO 250K beyond 1:100,000 and OpenStreetMap from 1:100,000.

Limitations

• Limited field checking was undertaken; the description notes some information may not be accurate.
• Topographic information was primarily checked in 2008-2009, which may affect temporal relevance.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, integrating data from Geoscience Australia, Australian Antarctic Division, OpenStreetMap, and others.

Collection Method

Aggregated from multiple topographic mapping datasets, satellite imagery, and collaborative programs.

Time Range

Primary data check in 2008, supplemented in 2009; SRTM data acquired February 2000.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-16 20:00:54.409491; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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