Tree Cover Change in Victoria, 1990-1993, from Landsat TM

Tree Cover Change in Victoria Between 1990 and 1993 is a geospatial polygon layer showing changes in woody vegetation taller than 2 meters with crown cover exceeding 10 percent. The Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action created it from LANDSAT TM digital data, mapping changes down to a minimum area of one hectare. Attributes outlining the causes of tree cover change are assigned for areas greater than 1 hectare.

Use Cases

• Quantifying deforestation or afforestation rates based on mapped tree cover change polygons.
• Analyzing the spatial drivers of vegetation change based on attributed causes for areas over 1 hectare.
• Establishing a historical baseline for forest cover using the 1990-1993 time range.
• Validating other land cover models using the one-hectare minimum mapping unit as a reference.

Strengths

• Defines tree cover with specific, measurable thresholds: vegetation >2m tall and >10% crown cover.
• Maps changes down to a minimum area of one hectare, providing a defined spatial resolution.
• Attributes include causes of change for areas greater than 1 hectare.
• Derived from the authoritative LANDSAT TM satellite data source.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The dataset's age (1990-1993) may limit its relevance for contemporary analysis without more recent data.

Provenance

Source

Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (data_gov_au)

Collection Method

Derived from LANDSAT TM digital data.

Time Range

1990 to 1993

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-08 23:46:14.822142; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Victoria, Australia