Urban Forest Canopy Coverage by Land Use and Height Strata

2009 to 2024 data provides vegetation height strata areas (0-3m, 3-8m, 8-15m, 15+m) and grass coverage for land parcels aggregated by mesh block and land use category. The dataset, created by CSIRO using Landgate aerial imagery and DPLH land data, calculates total canopy coverage in square meters and includes a field (MBPercentage) indicating data completeness for temporal comparison.

Use Cases

• Analyze changes in total canopy coverage across suburbs or LGAs from 2009 to 2024 using the MBPercentage field for comparability.
• Model the distribution of vegetation height strata (0-3m, 3-8m, 8-15m, 15+m) across different MonitorCategory land uses like Parks, Street Blocks, or Roads.
• Calculate grass-covered area (0-50 cm range) per land parcel to assess urban green space composition.
• Aggregate canopy coverage percentages by MB_MonitorCategory (concatenated mesh block and land use) for urban heat island mitigation planning.

Strengths

• Multi-temporal coverage across five published years: 2009, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2024.
• Includes specific vegetation height strata areas and a dedicated grass coverage metric.
• Provides a calculated field (MBPercentage) to assess data coverage completeness for each year, aiding cross-year analysis.

Limitations

• Aggregated mesh block boundaries and areas (MBAreas) do not match official ABS mesh block boundaries due to parcel centroid-based assignment.
• Data availability for parcels varies between years, requiring use of the MBPercentage field to interpret comparisons.
• Land use categories are broad (e.g., 'Other'), which may limit granular analysis for specific urban forms.

Provenance

Source

Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage (DPLH), using Landgate aerial imagery and the Integrated Land Information Database (ILID).

Collection Method

Vegetation height and grass coverage calculated by CSIRO from Urban Monitor aerial imagery mosaics, attributed to land parcels and aggregated by mesh block and land use category.

Time Range

2009, 2014,我们发现2016, 2018, 2024.

Freshness

Contains data up to 2024, with metadata last updated in March 2026.

Geography

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