APPLICATION OF CORINE LAND-COVER METHODOLOGY TO THE UK - SOME ISSUES RAISED FROM NORTHERN-IRELAND

To date, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom to ad opt the CORINE land cover approach-as part of an all-Ireland project f or the EC. The land cover classification of the island, derived from L andsat TM imagery, at a scale of 1:100,000 is held in an ARC/INFO data base. The EC intend that the land cover database should inform their e nvironment and regional development policies and should be widely avai lable. The project was led by the Ordnance Survey of Ireland, organize d in several phases and subcontracted to co-ordinated teams drawn from government and universities. The project is outlined and its successe s and problems discussed, for example (i) a Mediterranean bias in the CORINE nomenclature, (ii) lack of clear rules to define classes, (iii) the need for Level 4 subdivisions to avoid broad generalizations (pas ture and peat bog) and (iv) lack of mixed natural vegetation classes. These problems are discussed through examining the application of CORI NE classes to agriculture, forest and semi-natural areas, and wetlands in the north of Ireland.