Habitat Mapping
Habitat surveys provide a baseline of the present state of an environment, and as such are valuable tools for recording change over time through development or through habitat restoration works. As such we provide support services in all aspects of habitat mapping from basic small Preliminary Ecological Appraisals to large scale landscape management plans.
Collecting habitat surveys is a time-intensive process but is very important in the early stages of any project, and therefore it is vital to maximise the quality of the output and convey the information in a robust and concise way. Consequently, en:mapping has prepared a service that enables ecologists to deliver accurate statistics and professional maps (and data) to the client through our habitat mapping service.
As part of the service we:
• Source appropriate map data, which within the UK will be VectorMap Local Ordnance Survey maps
• Provide field recording sheets for fieldworkers to draw habitat boundaries and additional notes
• Digitise completed survey maps and attach attribute information such as land classification, notes, surveyor ID, etc
• Extract accurate habitat measurements (headline statistics), such as area, perimeter, proximity to developments
• Produce high quality digital output for inclusion in technical reports for the client
• Provide the GIS data, with associated Metadata, for your client if required
We are aware some clients may require only partial aspects of the service and can design a bespoke service which fits your needs, such as if you only want the data to be captured (such as for a habitat inventory).
We are able to provide this service for:
• Phase 1 and extended Phase 1 habitat surveys
• Farm Environment Plans (FEP)
• BREEAM assessments
• National Vegetation Classification (NVC) surveys
• Hedgerow surveys
• Land parcel extraction from aerial imagery
• Habitat inventories at all scales (regional to national)
• Ecological research projects
Technical details
All data capture is performed with a digitising tablet at a resolution of up to 1:250. All data is mapped on to the 1:10,000 Ordnance Survey dataset (or a base map of your choice). All data capture and georeferencing takes place within ArcGIS 10. A GIS output can be provided as either ESRI shapefiles or MapInfo tab files. We are able to work with a wide range of data sources and can provide output that meets your specific needs - whether that be shapefile, jpeg, pdf or AutoCAD dwg.
The final spatial dataset will contain all relevant supporting information through the attribute information held within the GIS layers and also within the associated INSPIRE compliant metadata. The use of detailed documentation and INSPIRE will greatly enhance the usability of the data in the future - by providing the data holder with as much information as necessary on the source of the data.