UKCEH Land Cover Maps

UKCEH Land Cover Maps: UK land cover classes (based on UK BAP Broad Habitats) from satellite imagery, 1990 to 2025; vector land parcels and 10m/20m/25m/1km rasters; WMS viewer.

Visit source ↗

Feature or claim this listing

Feature this listing — founding Featured slots are 50% off for 6 months

Represent UKCEH Land Cover Maps? Send a claim for review so we can discuss listing updates. Claims do not automatically grant ownership or verification.

Explore paid sponsorship →

What's in it

Data offered docs-verified: UK land cover classes (UK BAP Broad Habitats) · vector land parcels (minimum mappable unit 0.5 ha) · 25m raster · 20m raster (LCM2017-2019 only) · 10m raster (LCM2020-2023 only) · 1km dominant cover raster · Land Cover Change 1990-2015 · UK Land Cover Statistics (2025, due 2026) · UKCEH Land Cover plus: Crops, Fertilisers, Pesticides
Coverage docs-verified: United Kingdom (vector non-commercial access is Great Britain only) · 1990 to 2025 (series; not every year is published)
Resolution docs-verified: Vector land parcels: minimum mappable unit 0.5 ha. Rasters: 10m, 20m, 25m or 1km pixels.
Update frequency docs-verified: Annual Land Cover Maps; LCM2025 10m pixel dataset due by end of August 2026, LCM2025 25m raster, land parcels and statistics due in 2026
Formats docs-verified: vector land parcels · raster (10m, 20m, 25m, 1km) · WMS (Web Mapping Service, view only)
Access docs-verified: Licensed, depending on use. Free for UK academic research and education via an EDINA Digimap subscription. Free raster download for non-commercial organisations and their contractors via EIDC. Non-commercial vector under licence with a £300 plus VAT admin fee and a usage-reporting condition. Commercial internal business use under a paid licence. Free innovation licence, with a value-added reseller agreement possible. Defra family of agencies: vector at no extra cost.

Useful for

Use cases llm-inferred: Flood risk modelling inputs: land cover roughness and runoff classes for an FRA or drainage model, using the 25m raster · Diffuse pollution and runoff risk mapping for catchment management, combining land cover with rainfall and terrain data · Habitat baseline mapping using UK BAP Broad Habitat classes for biodiversity net gain or ecological assessment · Historic land cover change analysis (1990 to 2025) for baseline or trend evidence in planning and environmental impact work
Audience llm-inferred: flood consultants · hydrologists · ecologists · GIS analysts · planners · catchment and water quality specialists

Limitations

Constraints llm-inferred: Commercial internal business use requires a paid licence; value-added reselling needs a separate agreement · Non-commercial vector access is for Great Britain only and carries an admin fee and a usage-reporting condition · Free raster download is limited to non-commercial organisations and their contractors · Map viewer and WMS are view-only; high-resolution data cannot be downloaded from them · WMS covers selected years only; Northern Ireland is viewable only for the 1km 2007 and 2015 rasters · Raster resolution varies by year: 20m only for 2017-2019, 10m only for 2020-2023, 1km not listed for 2016, 2024 or 2025 · LCM2025 10m and other 2025 products were due in 2026; availability is not confirmed by these docs · Land Cover Change dataset covers 1990-2015 only; new 1990-2015 mapping is in progress · Docs do not name file formats (for example shapefile or GeoTIFF); GIS layer files are provided for symbology · Access requires a data request or licence application; the docs describe downloads and WMS but no API · Published images must be acknowledged, and the docs give citation guidance

Licence: Unknown — check provider terms
Authentication: licence depends on use (free non-commercial raster download via EIDC; commercial use licensed)
GitHub stars: Unknown
Last commit: Unknown
Last successful page check: 14/10/2026
Page health: page reachable
Package: Not recorded
Verification: Not independently verified

Provenance & evidence

Daily discovery 2026-10-15: page verified 200 (curl + WebFetch). Formats and licensing per UKCEH page.

Metadata observed 14/10/2026 · daily-2026-10-15 (agency/portal)