George Büttner: Institute of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing (FÖMI) Remote Sensing Centre Budapest, Hungary CORINE LC database - the first consistent LC inventory completed in the Phare countries Contents: Looking back for a decade Overview of participating countries Conclusions Rrecommendation for I&CLC2000 The Fourth Annual EIONET Land Cover workshop Prague (Hotel Pyramida), April 2000

CORINE Land Cover in the Phare countries A decade of efforts 1991: EC decision to extend CORINE to C&E Europe in the frames of the Phare Regional Environmental Programme 1992: „Phare countries are ready to start” - JRC/Ispra meeting 1992: Phare expert meeting on actual project implementation, Budapest, : Phare training for photointerpreters (BG, CS, H, PL, RO) - Karlik (near Prague) : CLC implementation in BG, CZ, H, PL, RO, SK 1994: Conference: CORINE Inventories, Warszawa (>100 participants) 1996: Phare training for photointerpreters (EST, LT, LV, SLO) - Vilnius 1997: Phare Natural Resources CD-ROM 1997: Concluding workshop for 6 countries, start of countries - Prague 1997-:Operation of Phare Topic Link on Land Cover (PTL/LC, GISAT, CZ) : CLC implementation in EST, LT, LV, SLO 1997: Workshop on Land Cover Applications - Needs and Use; Copenhagen 1998: Local training in Tirana, Skopje, Sarajevo : CLC implementation in AL, BIH and MK

CORINE Land Cover in the Phare countries project initiated by the European Commission working scale - 1 : minimum mapping unit: 25 ha 28 countries are involved, 4.43 million km 2 CLC in Phare countries: 13 countries in 3 phases ( ) 1,183 M km2 altogether 1133 map sheets Purpose: To provide quantitative, consistent and comparable information on land cover CORINE = Co-ordination of Information on the Environment Land cover: biophysical coverage of the Earth’s surface (changes > 1 year)

CORINE Land Cover - methodology Input: Landsat TM satellite image photomaps (scale 1 : ) Method: Output: Visual interpretation with computer assistance, use of ancillary information (maps, air-photos), field checking Digital database including 44 categories in five groups: - artificial surfaces - agriculture - forest and semi-natural vegetation - wetlands - water bodies The “BIBLE”: CORINE Land Cover Technical Guide (EC, 1994) Supervision: Land Cover Technical Unit

CORINE Land Cover: Ancillary data Topographic map (1985)Tuzla (BIH) Satellite image(1998)

CORINE Land Cover: Field checking

BULGARIA Country area: km2 Project duration: Contracted organisation: Ministry of Environment, National Centre for Environmental and Sustainable Development Type of contract: direct contract with Phare Project leader: Stoyan Blagoev, MoE Period of satellite imagery: Number of CLC map sheets: 105 Number of photointerpreters: 7 Main difficulties met during project implementation: autumn imagery did not support interpretation of 324 proper interpretation of mountainous regions (332, 333, 322) needed lots of additional correction military airports were omitted from the final database because of security reasons Source: Phare Natural Resources CD-ROM

CZECH REPUBLIC Country area: km2 Project duration: Contracted organisation: GISAT Type of contract: direct contract with Phare Project leader: Jan Kolar, GISAT Period of satellite imagery: Number of CLC map sheets: 94 Number of photointerpreters: 7 Main specialities / difficulties met during project implementation: Czech and Slovak teams worked in close co- operation 324 was used to map forest cut-over Source: Phare Natural Resources CD-ROM

HUNGARY Country area: km2 Project duration: Contracted organisation: Institute of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing (FÖMI) Type of contract: direct contract with Phare Project leader: George Büttner, FÖMI Period of satellite imagery: Number of CLC map sheets: 84 Number of photointerpreters: 8 (6) Main difficulties met during project implementation: consistent separation of 231 and 321, problems with autumn imagery classification of small (<25 ha) settlements because of the MMU=25 ha, many important features were omitted Main benefits of the project: the first 1: LC database of the country many applications in different fields raised the need for a national 1: LC database (a project started in 1999 based on lessons learnt from standard CLC)

POLAND Country area: km2 Project duration: Contracted organisation: Institute of Geodesy and Cartography (IGiK) Type of contract: direct contract with Phare Project leader: Marek Baranowski, IGIK Period of satellite imagery: Number of CLC map sheets: 297 Number of photointerpreters: 12 Main difficulties met during project implementation: keep consistency of the database (reduction of team) use of spring and autumn imagery interpretation of dispersed human habitats Source: Phare Natural Resources CD-ROM

ROMANIA Country area: km2 Project duration: Contracted organisation: Geological Institute of Romania (IGR) Type of contract: direct contract with Phare Project leader: Vasile Vajdea, IG Period of satellite imagery: Number of CLC map sheets: 203 Number of photointerpreters: 10 Main difficulties met during project implementation: confusion is separating 321 and 231 rapid changes in agricultural land (imagery was outdated) lack of optimally timed imagery to separate deciduous, coniferous and mixed forests Source: Ms. A. Vajdea Main benefits of the project: Verified correctness of data in Statistical Yearbooks Provided a geo-info database for the National Agency for Mineral Resources Applications in erosion risk assessment, hyrological modelling, habitat estimation, etc..

SLOVAK REPUBLIC Country area: km2 Project duration: Contracted organisation: Institute of Geography, Slovak Academy of Sciences Type of contract: subcontract with GISAT (CZ) Project leader: Jan Feranec, IG SAC Period of satellite imagery: Number of CLC map sheets: 58 Number of photointerpreters: 3 Specialities met during the project implementation: Problems with distinguishing the CLC classes 231, 221 and 222 (young trees) in the lowland - agricultural landscape, Problems with identification of the CLC classes in the mountain landscape Shaded slopes Source: Phare Natural Resources CD-ROM and J. Feranec Main benefit of the project: A possibility to produce the first land cover database at scale 1: for the Slovak Republic - compatible with the other European countries - by using satellite images.

ESTONIA Country area: km2 Project duration: Contracted organisation: Estonian Environment Information Centre Type of contract: direct contract with Phare, limited tender Project leader: Andrus Meiner, EEIC Period of satellite imagery: Number of CLC map sheets: 37 Number of photointerpreters: 3 Main difficulties met during project implementation: delay in image map supply low positional accuracy and data gaps of some image maps applicability of classification developed for W,S and Central Europe to the N European conditions Source: A. Meiner Main benefits of the project: First ever uniform, digital, public, clearly defined, nation-wide dataset; Fruitful introduction of land cover concept in environmental management; Update of land use/land cover national coverage; Application which benefits to general RS/GIS development in Estonia.

LATVIA Country area: km2 Project duration: Contracted organisation: Latvian Environment Data Centre (LEDC) and Department of Geodesy of Riga Technical University (DoG) Type of contract: direct contract with Phare Project leaders: Ieva Vaica, DoG and Harijs Baranovs, LEDC Period of satellite imagery: Number of CLC map sheets: 44 Number of photointerpreters: 4 Main difficulties met during project implementation: lack of fresh aerial photos for the East part lots of compromises in interpretation of small (<25 ha) polygons separation of 211 and abandoned arable land (231) Source: Harijs Baranovs Main benefits of the project: availability of consistent database for the whole country, comparable with neighbour countries numerous applications (19)

LITHUANIA Country area: km2 Project duration: Contracted organisation: HNIT-Baltic Geoinfoservisas Type of contract: direct contract with Phare Project leader: Rimantas Kaulakys, HNIT- Baltic Period of satellite imagery: Number of CLC map sheets: 42 Number of photointerpreters: 4 Main difficulties met during project implementation: geometrical problems of satellite image hardcopies separation of pastures and meadows (natural grassland) border matching with Poland data: difference in MMU (20 ha/25 ha) Source: R. Kaulakys Main benefits of the project: additional step to the European Community; new experiences and skills in satellite image interpretation, in creation of thematic GIS databases, integration and in image processing constructive collaboration and friendly relations with other CLC national teams and EEA experts the database is available for all institutions intending to develop their own GIS (very different fields).

SLOVENIA Country area: km2 Project duration: Contracted organisations: Slovenian Institute of Geodesy (GZ-S) Slovenian Forestry Institute, Institute of Geology, Geotechnics and Geophysics, Univ. Ljubljana, Centre for Soil and Environmental Sciences, Type of contract: direct contract with Phare Project leader: Andrej Bilc, GZ-S Period of satellite imagery: Number of CLC map sheets: 33 Number of photointerpreters: 3 Main benefits of the project: up to date land cover data new expertise Source: A. Kobler Main difficulties met during project implementation: large proportion of 242 and 243 because of fragmented landscape almost a full-country aerial photograph coverage was needed

ALBANIA Country area: Km2 Project duration: Contracted organisation: IGN FI Type of contract: ? Project leader: ? Period of satellite imagery: ? Number of CLC map sheets: 36 Number of photointerpreters: ? Difficulties / specialities met during the project implementation: Source: M. Bossard

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA Country area: km2 Project duration: Contracted organisation: FÖMI, Hungary Type of contract: international tender Project leader: George Büttner, FÖMI Local partner: Institute of Geodesy, BIH (GZ BIH), subcontract Local project leader: Esad Mahir, GZ BIH Period of satellite imagery: 1998 Number of CLC map sheets: 65 Number of photointerpreters: 5 Main difficulties met during project implementation: organisation of field trips (political problems, danger of mines) outdated aerial photographs and topographic maps separation of 323 and 324 near the Adriatic coast, and mapping abandoned agricultural land because of war Source: E. Mahir Main benefits of the project: first project with satellite imagery new practices in GIS and IP case studies at scale 1: using SPOT-4& IRS-1C

F.Y.R. MACEDONIA Country area: km2 Project duration: Contracted organisation: FÖMI, Hungary Type of contract: international tender Project leader: George Büttner, FÖMI Local partner: Ministry of Urban Planning, Construction and Environment (subcontract) Local project leader: Zoran Velickov Period of satellite imagery: Number of CLC map sheets: 35 Number of photointerpreters: 4 Main difficulties met during project implementation: accessibility of NW parts of the country because of Kosovo crisis outdated topographic maps, difficult access to aerial photographs separation of 323 and 324 Source: Z. Velickov Main benefits of the project: first project with Landsat imagery foreseen applications: urban and rural planning, mapping (e.g. tourist maps)

Conclusions Meaningful contribution of Phare countries to the Land Cover map of Europe Part of the „harmonisation” process (accession to EU) Enthusiastic and highly skilled national teams have been set up Strengthened the use of contemporary technology (GIS, IP) Significant know-how has been developed, which should be further utilised Effective technical (LCTU: Y.Heymann, C.Steenmans, M.Bossard, J.Feranec) and administrative (Phare/EEA: E.Evrard) management, friendly relations among participants Many useful applications on national levels The database is outdated (>5 years) for most countries, needs updating There are still some “white” areas in C&E Europe for extending CLC…..

Recommendations for I&CLC2000 better localisation accuracy more geometric details better thematic accuracy more homogeneity, better database quality deriving real changes orthocorrection, GCPs not from 100K maps computer aided photointerpretation revision of MMU (25 / 20 hectares) ? homogeneous application of MMU images acquired on proper date use of additional satellite images improved definition of some classes strong internal and external QC/QA correcting errors of baseline LC data REQUIREMENTS TOOLS

Acknowledgement A. Vajdea, Romania J. Feranec, Slovakia A. Meiner, Estonia H. Baranovs, Latvia R. Kaulakys, Lithuania A. Kobler, Slovenia M. Bossard, France (Albania) Z. Velickov, F.Y.R. Macedonia E. Mahir, Bosnia-Herzegovina G. Maucha, Hungary (technical realisation)