Saltmarsh Change in England from 2006-2009 to 2016-2019

A geospatial layer showing changes in saltmarsh extent across England, comparing a baseline from 2006-2009 to a more recent inventory from 2016-2019. The dataset was created by the Environment Agency by comparing two versions of the Saltmarsh Extent inventory and was last updated in May 2026. It classifies areas as experiencing gain, loss, no change, or not remapped.

Use Cases

• Identify areas of saltmarsh erosion and accretion for coastal risk management based on the change attribute classes.
• Monitor ecological habitat change over a decade for environmental reporting based on the comparison of two time periods.
• Analyze the impact of managed realignment sites on saltmarsh extent based on the inclusion of 63 specific sites.

Strengths

• Covers almost 100% of England's saltmarsh, providing national-scale evidence.
• Compares two distinct time periods (2006-2009 baseline vs. 2016-2019 recent) for change analysis.
• Includes data from 63 managed realignment and regulated tidal exchange sites.

Limitations

• Some change may be due to seasonal differences in image capture timing rather than long-term trends.
• The dataset has been retired and superseded by a newer version, as noted in the description.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Environment Agency

Collection Method

Interpreted from aerial imagery collected through Regional Coastal Monitoring Programmes and other strategy programmes.

Time Range

Baseline: 2006-2009; Most recent: 2016-2019.

Freshness

Last updated 2026 05 06 16:28:22.149722; freshness should be verified as the dataset is retired.

Geography

England