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Data

A tool to support environmental initiatives

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Data Compilation

The gea_basemap was created by searching for and compiling existing spatial data products that were intended to represent ecosystems Searches focused on publicly available data repositories, the scientific literature, and through a coordinated program of targeted outreach focused primarily on national ecosystem mapping organisations. Each dataset was subjected to a rigorous evaluation and quality assessment protocol that included formal assessment of license conditions, class definitions, validations and accuracy assessment, data freshness, and spatial resolution. The evaluation protocol ensured the inclusion of only the highest-quality data into the gea_basemap. 

Each dataset was subjected to a rigorous evaluation and quality assessment protocol that included formal assessment of license conditions, class definitions, validations and accuracy assessment, data freshness, and spatial resolution.

Methodology

Correspondence to the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology Methodology

Evaluating the correspondence between map classes in existing spatial datasets and the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology is a critical process that enables harmonization of datasets into the gea_basemap data product. This process involves evaluating every map class in the different source datasets and assigning them to the Ecosystem Functional Group level (Level 3) of IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology.

Each evaluation is conducted according to IUCN Map classes that do not correspond to Level 3 of the Global Ecosystem Typology are set to no data and identified by the geo_basemap data masks. The correspondence analysis process ensures that diverse ecosystem data, which are often mapped to represent different classification systems, is harmonized into a consistent, globally recognized framework.

Methods for evaluating correspondence to the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology

Source Data Review

Each dataset is thoroughly reviewed to understand its classification system and how it relates to the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology. In most cases, the GEO Ecosystem Atlas science team works with mapping teams to understand the provenance and intent of the data.

Logical Mapping

Both short and long class descriptions of input datasets are recorded in GEO Atlas correspondence tables, and a logical mapping is developed to assign source data classifications into the corresponding Ecosystem Functional Groups (EFGs) of the IUCN framework. This may involve matching similar classes or creating composite classes from multiple source data categories. This process is typically conducted by the GEO Atlas science team with input from the authors of the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology, or directly by the map developers themselves with guidance by the GEO Atlas and IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology science teams.

Expert review

Each class correspondence decision is reviewed by a qualified expert from the GEO Atlas scientific committee and offered back to the source data developers for additional review and comment. The reclassified data is then validated to ensure that the crosswalking process accurately reflects the ecological characteristics intended by the IUCN Typology. This step may involve expert review and comparison with known ecosystem distributions.

Technical Approach

The logical mapping is technically applied to the data using GIS tools within a broader data synthesis pipeline. The ecosystem data is reclassified, with each pixel or vector element assigned a value corresponding to a specific EFG.

Data Processing and Quality Control

  • Spatial Processing

    The geo_basemap is developed with a fully scripted processing pipeline that ingests source data, transforms them into a common coordinate system (WGS 1984), aligns to a common spatial origin, and is downsampled to the required 100-meter pixel resolution of the geo_basemap data specification.

  • Reclassification

    Each source dataset is reclassified using the correspondence tables described above (see Logical Mapping) and processed into the multiple data layers that represent 3 upper levels of the hierarchical IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology, resulting in a final set of GeoTIFFs where each pixel value corresponds to a specific ecosystem, biome and realm type.

  • Quality Assurance

    Multiple layers of quality control are applied, including spatial accuracy checks, logical consistency tests, expert reviews and comparison with reference data. A set of QA data layers propogate information about the spatial resolution and period that the source data was produced, areas where there are data overlaps and processing steps of the geo_basemap processing pipeline.

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