Improved Land Cover data better captures changing landscape
The area of Australia’s inland water bodies have more than doubled since 2019, according to improved National Land Cover Account data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Dr Helen Fox, ABS head of environmental statistics, said: ‘The National Land Cover Account, 2024 is our most detailed ever, meaning we have far better insights into the impacts of climate on land cover types.'
Visual example of resolution improvements
Image
Description
Two side by side pixelated images of a white lake surrounded by black and grey herbaceous vegetation. The left image is shown at 250 metre resolution, and is less detailed. The right image is shown at 30 metre resolution, and captures much more detail including a river to the left of the lake which isn't present in the other image.
‘Improvements to ABS systems have enabled us to go from a resolution of 250 metres right down to 30 metres.’
Wetter years have seen long-term inland water bodies expand by 114.4 per cent and short-term inland water bodies expand by 114.2 per cent since 2019.
‘In 2024, long term inland water bodies were at their largest extent since 2011 and second largest overall since the data started in 1988,’ Dr Fox said.
‘Inland water bodies, such as Lake Eyre, are important to Australia because they provide habitats for our native wildlife.’
Artificial surfaces, such as cities and towns, have continued to trend upwards, increasing 105.7 per cent nationally since 1988.
‘While artificial surfaces make up a small part of the landscape, they have been growing in all states and territories since our records began in 1988,’ Dr Fox said.
Grassland expanded by 2.4 per cent since 2019 and continued to be the dominant land type covering 44.2 per cent of Australia in 2024.
The improvements to the National Land Cover Account also includes historical data which is available in the latest publication.
Media notes
- Perennial (long-term) inland water bodies are areas that are covered by water, either naturally or artificially, for more than 9 months of the year.
- Non-perennial (short-term) inland water bodies are areas that are covered by water, either naturally or artificially, for less than or equal to 9 months of the year.
- Artificial surfaces are areas that have an artificial cover as a result of human activities.
- Grassland are areas where the dominant vegetative cover is below two metres in height and woody canopy cover is less than twenty per cent.
- This publication includes an update to the previous release. Trends between 2019–2024 reflect the dry conditions leading up to 2019 where some classes like Sparsely vegetated areas saw large increases over a short period. For more information, refer to the full National Land Cover Account publication.
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