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Resource Information:

National Vegetation Information System (NVIS) Downloadable Data - Pre-European and Present Native Vegetation (Published Data - Stage 1, Version 2) National Land & Water Res Audit

Download data

Creation Date: 19370101

Revision Date: 20021231

Unique resource identifier:

Party responsible for the resource:

Organisation's name: Australian Government Department of the Environment and Water Resources

Contact's position: Vegetation Data Manager

Contact's role: custodian

Contact information:

Phone:

Voice: 02 6274 1111

Fax: 02 6274 1666

Address:

Delivery point:

GPO Box 787

City: Canberra

Administrative area: ACT

Postal code: 2601

Country: Australia

e-mail address: vegetation.metadata@environment.gov.au

FLORA Native

FLORA Native_Mapping

VEGETATION Floristic_Classification

VEGETATION Structural_Classification

Access constraints:

Data compiled in NVIS are made available with the consent of custodians of the source data. Consent has been withheld for some datasets (see Completeness) and must be sought directly from the State or Territory custodian. Restricted datasets are not available for download from this site.

This data is made available to the public under licence from the Department consistent with the Commonwealth Spatial Data Access and Pricing Policy.

Reference System Information:

Reference system identifier:

Value: WGS 84

Data Quality Information:

Scope of quality information: dataset

Lineage:

This data is the result of the translation by the custodians of a range of State and Territory vegetation data sets into the nationally consistent NVIS classification system. The data was collated and compiled by the Bureau of Rural Sciences into a centralised database for the purposes of data quality checking and the production of national data products. Metadata for the original data sets has been recorded by the data custodians and is stored in their State/Territory node of the Australian Spatial Data Directory (ASDD) - use 'NVIS' as a search word.

Attribute Data
Attribute data were imported from State and Territory sources using a Microsoft Access database transfer tool (Data Compiler), CSV or DBF files into the NVIS Oracle database. A unique national map unit identifier was added to the attribute data so that a record's data set membership was not lost during processing. This also provided a link between attribute and spatial data, and the source data sets.

Some validation checks were performed to ensure the presence of mandatory attributes and the correct attribute format in NVIS levels 1 - 4. Subsequent changes to the database were made with the permission of the relevant data custodian. The Australian Government, Department of the Environment and Heritage is conducting ongoing validation of the more complex levels of the NVIS hierarchy (L4-6) and logical consistency checks between the levels utilising numerous parsing scripts. Resolution of the issues raised will take some time to complete.

To address inconsistency and redundancy in the NVIS database, and enable effective handling of vegetation mosaics spatially, the Australian Government, Department of the Environment and Heritage conducted a restructure of the NVIS database. To further enhance data consistency, ongoing development of rule-sets for database content is taking place, along with a review of permissible field options. The NVIS classification system is still evolving and it is unlikely that NVIS attribute data will be fully consistent until this process has been finalised.

Spatial Data

Spatial data were imported into ArcInfo as coverages. Data that did not comply with NVIS specifications were converted to an NVIS compliant projection and datum. All processing of spatial data was done at a tolerance 0.00001 degrees or less.

Where data were provided to the BRS as multiple and overlapping data sets for each State or Territory, the majority of these were combined to a single coverage per State/Territory. In order to combine data sets, custodians were consulted as to the order of precedence that each data set should take, reflecting their relative reliabilities. To make the data available for download in manageable chunks, it has subsequently been necessary to split several of these coverages back into their components.

A unique national map unit identifier was added to the spatial data to ensure that data set membership of each vegetation entity was retained throughout the processing. The addition of a State/Territory number and a dataset number, to each original map unit number, produced the MAPUNT_IDENTIFIER. This field enables linking of spatial coverages to a national table of vegetation association codes (NVIS_Ids). These were attached as attributes NVISDSC1, NVISDSC2 etc up to 6 depending on the number of associations contained in each polygon.

To assist interpretation of vegetation associations from the NVIS codes, data on unique vegetation descriptions was extracted from the attribute database and converted to an Info file called VEG_DESC.ATT. This table can be joined on the field NVIS_ID to the fields NVISDSC1 - 5 of the coverage attribute table to interpret the NVIS_ID codes contained within these fields. Due to field constraints, a .csv file (viewable in Excel) was created which contains all 6 levels.

Source data acknowledgements:

Funding for the collation of these data was provided by the National Land and Water Resources Audit, a program of the Natural Heritage Trust.

NVIS data was provided by the following State and Territory organisations:-

Environment ACT, Department of Urban Services;

NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service;

NSW Royal Botanic Gardens;

NSW State Forests;

NT Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment;

QLD Herbarium, Environmental Protection Agency;

SA Department for Environment and Heritage;

TAS Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment;

VIC Department of Natural Resources and Environment (Flora Section); and

WA Department of Conservation and Land Management, Agriculture WA.

Data was initially compiled by the Bureau of Rural Sciences (BRS).

Data validation is being conducted on an ongoing basis by the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage.

Data quality report - Absolute external positional accuracy:

The positional accuracy of the NVIS data corresponds to the positional accuracy of each input data set. The accuracy is variable depending on the scale and source of the input data, and ranges between 12.5 and 1000 metres. The scale attribute indicates the accuracy of the relevant source dataset.

Data sources and the quality of spatial information are described in detail in the Guidelines section and Appendix 10 of the Australian Native Vegetation Assessment 2001. Maps in this publication summarise the scales of input data. Further information is available from the data custodians.

Data quality report - Attribute accuracy:

Translation of the vegetation data into the NVIS Framework (National Land and Water Resources Audit, 2000) was the responsibility of each State/Territory. There was considerable variability between custodians and often between source datasets in how the NVIS specification was interpreted and applied, and how translation was conducted. This is reflected in the outcomes achieved.

Inconsistencies identified in the translation of attributes for Levels I-III of the NVIS hierarchy were recorded and provided back to the State and Territory data custodians for review, correction and resupply. Re-supplied data were re-validated by BRS and re-loaded into the NVIS ORACLE database.

Data formatting and consistency between levels are much more complex issues at the higher levels (IV - VI) of the NVIS hierarchy. The Australian Government, Department of the Environment and Heritage is developing a suite of validation procedures and parsing scripts to undertake more complex checking of the attribute database. This is being done on a whole of record (vegetation description) basis and the process is incomplete. In most instances, the NVIS vegetation description appears to be a reasonable interpretation of the source. However there are still known inconsistencies within records and care is advised in using NVIS data. Records should be interpreted as whole vegetation descriptions rather than accepting the values of individual fields in isolation.

Inconsistencies within the database are caused by interpretation as well as process. These tend to reflect differences in approach between jurisdictions. The most significant of these are the interpretation of the terms 'broad floristic' and 'ecologically dominant stratum'. As a consequence, description of the same vegetation association can differ between jurisdictions. This can result in contiguous spatial features having different vegetation interpretations at broad levels of classification across State boundaries eg. WA and NT border. To address these and many similar but less significant issues there is a process in train to review the NVIS classification system. This will result in tighter definitions and formatting and greater consistency of interpretation.

Some data from South Australia and the Northern Territory was initially mapped to represent landscape units rather than vegetation types. This can result in unusual interpretations of the vegetation present - most significantly areas of forest in arid areas. To derive attribute data for Tasmanian pre-clearing, BRS used a rule-set provided by the state to interpret the World Heritage Area and the Vegetation Management Strategy data sets. The custodian has yet to approve the outcome. Mapping of the Unnamed Conservation Park in SA has interim status only.

Attribute List:
Mapunt_Identifier => Link between spatial and attribute data
No_Veg_Desc => Number of Veg descriptions (as stated, not necessarily as supplied; see Nvisdsc1 - 6)
Spatial_Mix => Spatial configuration of veg descriptions (pure; dominant mosaic; equal mosaic; mosaic; mosaic unknown; unknown)
Nvisdsc1 => Nvis_id of the first vegetation description
Nvisdsc2 => Nvisdsc6 (Nvis_id's of additional vegetation descriptions)
Att_start => Start date of collection of attribute data for the source dataset
Att_end => End date of collection of attribute data for the source dataset
Scale => Scale of source dataset
Spatial_start => Start date of recording spatial boundaries for the source dataset
Spatial_end => End date fo recording spatial boundaries for the source dataset

Veg_desc.att Table:
Nvis_id => Nvis_id of the vegetation description
Class_L1 => Level1: Class
Struc_Form_L2 => Level2: Structural Formation
Broad_Flor_L3 => Level3: Broad Floristic
Sub_Formation_L4 => Level4: Sub Formation
Association_L5 => Level5: Association

Data quality report - Conceptual consistency:

BRS has undertaken a thorough check of the NVIS spatial data to ensure the spatial integrity of the data. Numerous checks have been done by BRS and the Australian Government, Department of the Environment and Heritage to ensure that the relationship between spatial and attribute information is consistent. A few vegetation codes have been discovered in the spatial data for WA and Vic where matching vegetation descriptions have not yet been supplied.

No attempt has been made to address spatial consistency issues at this point, including standardised coastlines, overlaps or gaps at state boundaries or between source datasets. Spatial edge-matching of vegetation polygons across State/Territory boundaries or dataset boundaries has not been addressed in Stage I of NVIS.

Ensuring consistency between the levels of the NVIS hierarchy is a serious and ongoing challenge. Many inconsistencies in the vegetation description records in NVIS have been identified and the Australian Government, Department of the Environment and Heritage has commenced a process to improve logical consistency.

Data quality report - Completeness:

The data sets compiled in NVIS are the complete list specified in the NVIS Stage I project. In some instances, the data compiled does not meet the initial criteria specified for NVIS.

NVIS Stage 1 does not provide a complete coverage of vegetation for all of Australia and there are significant gaps. A gap analysis has been undertaken to report on the extent and characteristics of absent or invalid data (NLWRA 2001).

A number of individual NVIS datasets have been withheld from general release by the State or Territory custodians. All of the Victorian data has been withheld from public release, pending finalisation of a data licence agreement.

Distribution Information:

Organisation's name: Australian Government Department of the Environment and Water Resources

Available format:

Format name: ArcInfo export file

Format version: 1

Available format:

Format name: ArcView shapefile

Format version: 1

Transfer options:

Online source:

Online location: National Vegetation Information System (NVIS) Downloadable Data - Pre-European and Present Native Vegetation (Published Data - Stage 1, Version 2) National Land & Water Res Audit

Description: Downloadable Data

Metadata Information:

Metadata language: English

Metadata character set: utf8 - 8 bit UCS Transfer Format

Last update: 20070228

Metadata contact:

Organisation's name: Australian Government Department of the Environment and Water Resources

Contact's position: Vegetation Data Manager

Contact's role: point of contact

Contact information:

Phone:

Voice: 02 6274 1111

Fax: 02 6274 1666

Address:

Delivery point:

GPO Box 787

City: Canberra

Administrative area: ACT

Postal code: 2601

Country: Australia

e-mail address: vegetation.metadata@environment.gov.au

Name of the metadata standard used: ISO 19115 Geographic Information - Metadata

Version of the metadata standard: Australian Government