Marston, C. et al see all authors

A high-resolution habitat map for England (LCM 3m)

https://doi.org/10.5285/8d275321-b5ce-4a10-b15f-ec37eaf6c971
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By accessing or using this dataset, you agree to the terms of the relevant licence agreement(s). You will ensure that this dataset is cited in any publication that describes research in which the data have been used.


The academic research community's non-commercial access to 'A high-resolution habitat map for England (LCM 3m)' is provided via EDINA's Environment Digimap Service.

A range of other licensing options are available for innovation activities, internal business use and commercial re-use through value added reselling, with charges applied through licence fees, royalties or revenue-sharing arrangements where appropriate. Pricing is structured proportionately according to factors such as use type, level of commercial exploitation and geographic extent.

'A high-resolution habitat map for England (LCM 3m)' is a national-scale 3 m resolution Land Cover Map for England. It was produced using a 12-month time series of analysis-ready PlanetScope monthly basemap imagery with contextual geospatial datasets and extensive training data to classify land cover into 72 categories, broadly aligned with the UK Habitat Classification framework (UKHab). A full description of the data set and production workflow is available in the LCM 3m product documentation.
Publication date: 2026-07-16

Format

TIFF

Spatial information

Study area
Spatial representation type
Raster
Spatial reference system
OSGB 1936 / British National Grid
Spatial resolution
3 metres

Provenance & quality

'A high-resolution habitat map for England (LCM 3m)' was produced using a modified a modified version of the UKCEH Land Cover Mapping processing chain. Training data were compiled from a variety of data sources, then subsequently filtered to improve the quality of the training data set. An input data stack comprising monthly 3 m resolution PlanetScope basemap imagery acquired over a 12-month period from January to December 2023, derived Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data, seasonal percentile NDVI data, and topographical context datasets was then classified using a Random Forest classifier built using the training data.

A series of post-classification enhancements were applied to improve the classification quality, and enhance the range of land cover classes mapped through integration with quality-assured independent datasets. The accuracy of the land cover classification is assessed at the national-level using over 35,000 validation locations, enabling production of a correspondence matrix to determine overall and class accuracies. Details are available within the product documentation.

Licensing and constraints

The academic research community's non-commercial access to 'A high-resolution habitat map for England (LCM 3m)' is provided via EDINA's Environment Digimap Service. A range of other licensing options are available for innovation activities, internal business use and commercial re-use through value added reselling, with charges applied through licence fees, royalties or revenue-sharing arrangements where appropriate. Pricing is structured proportionately according to factors such as use type, level of commercial exploitation and geographic extent.

Cite this dataset as:
Marston, C.; Rowland, C.; Redhead, J.; Ridding, L.; Rowe, R.; Stevens, R.; Serra Gallego, J.; Williams, E.; Upcott, E.; Orsler, Z.; Marshall, Z.; Bolton, M.; O'Neil, A.; Tabor, M.; Pywell, R. (2026). A high-resolution habitat map for England (LCM 3m). NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/8d275321-b5ce-4a10-b15f-ec37eaf6c971

Related

This dataset is included in the following collections

Land Cover Maps

Correspondence/contact details

Christopher Marston
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
 enquiries@ceh.ac.uk

Authors

Marston, C.
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Rowland, C.
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Redhead, J.
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Ridding, L.
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Rowe, R.
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Stevens, R.
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Serra Gallego, J.
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Williams, E.
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Upcott, E.
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Orsler, Z.
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Marshall, Z.
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Bolton, M.
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
O'Neil, A.
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Tabor, M.
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Pywell, R.
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

Other contacts

Publisher
NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre
 info@eidc.ac.uk
Rights holder
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Custodian
NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre
 info@eidc.ac.uk

Additional metadata

Topic categories
environment
imageryBaseMapsEarthCover
INSPIRE theme
Land Cover
Keywords
earth observation , England , habitat , land cover , Land cover , mapping , Mapping , satellite imagery
Funding
Natural Environment Research Council Award: NE/W005050/1