The dataset is made publicly available as a GIS at nominal 1:5 000 000 scale, and shows the time-space-event distribution of mafic-ultramafic magmatism in Australia from the early Archean to the present day. Development of this GIS has been a multi-year project and earlier released extracts (in viewable pdf form with accompanying Geoscience Australia Records) included compilations for the Archean magmatic record, the Proterozoic magmatic record, and the Australian Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs). Publication of the GIS completes the series with addition of the Phanerozoic magmatic record, and formalisation of the complete record of Archean-Phanerozoic magmatic events as a single series. The chronology of Australian mafic-ultramafic magmatism resolves into 74 magmatic events within, predominately, resolvable bands of ±10 million years. Each event is identified by geological units grouped by similar age - this coeval magmatism may or may not be genetically related and may be in response to different geodynamic environments. These magmatic events range in age from the Eoarchean ~3730 Ma ME 1 - Manfred Event, confined within a small remnant domain within the Yilgarn Craton, to the widespread record of Cenozoic magmatism in eastern Australia (ME 72 to ME 74). The magmatic events range in magnitude from the giant volumes of magma in Large Igneous Provinces, to events whose only known occurrence is an isolated record of dated mafic igneous rock in a single drillhole. The GIS makes it possible to focus on the location of any one of these magmatic events, or groups of magmatic events that may be of interest, and overlay context from any other information that users may have available. The delineation of magmatic events for this study is based on several hundred published ages of mafic and ultramafic igneous rocks from different isotopic systems and minerals. In addition to their ages and extents, primary recorded aspects of each magmatic event include the presence or absence of ultramafic components. Further to this, the presence or correlation of known magmatic-related mineralisation is highlighted in Time-Space-Event Charts of Australia (Appendix D, figures D1 and D2). The basis for mapping has been regional solid geology, interpreted basement geology and surface geology base maps made available by the State and Northern Territory geological surveys, providing insight into the total areal extent of the magmatic systems under cover. Also available to complement the Event GIS are the domains and element boundaries from the Australian Crustal Elements map. These boundaries which are which are based on geophysical extrapolation of crustal elements under the cover of continental basins, provide a framework of the shallow crustal structure of the continent, and are used in this guide. The Crustal Elements digital dataset is available for download from the Geoscience Australia website. Insight into the geodynamic development of the continent is provided by the magmatic event structure through time. The compilation draws attention to concentrations of mafic-ultramafic magmatism in the Archean from ~2820-2665 Ma, in the Proterozoic from ~1870-1590 Ma, and in the late Neoproterozoic-Phanerozoic from ~530-225 Ma. These three time spans contain 39 of the 74 magmatic events, 53% of the entire mafic-ultramafic magmatic event record of the continent. The periods in between have mafic-ultramafic magmatic records that are more dispersed in time. Other features of interest include the shared geographic and crustal element locations of Large Igneous Provinces and numerous events with smaller magma volumes. Read the rest of the Executive Summary in the document.

Please note this dataset is the most recent version of the Administrative Boundaries (AB). For previous versions of the AB please go to this url: https://data.gov.au/dataset/ds-dga-b4ad5702-ea2b-4f04-833c-d0229bfd689e/details?q=previous

Geoscape Administrative Boundaries is Australia’s most comprehensive national collection of boundaries, including government, statistical and electoral boundaries. It is built and maintained by Geoscape Australia using authoritative government data. Further information about contributors to Administrative Boundaries is available here.

This dataset comprises seven Geoscape products:

• Localities
• Local Government Areas (LGAs)
• Wards
• Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Boundaries
• Electoral Boundaries
• State Boundaries and
• Town Points

Updated versions of Administrative Boundaries are published on a quarterly basis.

Users have the option to download datasets with feature coordinates referencing either GDA94 or GDA2020 datums.

Notable changes in the May 2025 release

• Victorian Wards have seen almost half of the dataset change now reflecting the boundaries from the 2024 subdivision review. https://www.vec.vic.gov.au/electoral-boundaries/council-reviews/ subdivision-reviews.

  • There have been spatial changes (area) greater than 1 km2 to 66 wards in Victoria.

• One new locality ‘Kenwick Island’ has been added to the local Government area ‘Mackay Regional’ in Queensland.

  • There have been spatial changes(area) greater than 1 km2 to the local government areas 'Burke Shire' and 'Mount Isa City' in Queensland.

• There have been spatial changes(area) greater than 1 km2 to the localities ‘Nicholson’, ‘Lawn Hill’ and ‘Coral Sea’ in Queensland and ‘Calguna’, ‘Israelite Bay’ and ‘Balladonia’ in Western Australia.

• An update to the NT Commonwealth Electoral Boundaries has been applied to reflect the redistribution of the boundaries gazetted on 4 March 2025.

• Geoscape has become aware that the DATE_CREATED and DATE_RETIRED attributes in the commonwealth_electoral_polygon MapInfo TAB tables were incorrectly ordered and did not match the product data model. These attributes have been re-ordered to match the data model for the May 2025 release.

IMPORTANT NOTE: correction of issues with the 22 November 2022 release

• On 28 November 2022, the Administrative Boundaries dataset originally released on 22 November 2022 was amended and re-uploaded after Geoscape identified some issues with the original data for 'Electoral Boundaries'.
• As a result of the error, some shapefiles were published in 3D rather than 2D, which may affect some users when importing data into GIS applications.
• The error affected the Electoral Boundaries dataset, specifically the Commonwealth boundary data for Victoria and Western Australia, including 'All States'.
• Only the ESRI Shapefile formats were affected (both GDA94 and GDA2020). The MapInfo TAB format was not affected.
• Because the datasets are zipped into a single file, once the error was fixed by Geoscape all of Administrative Boundaries shapefiles had to be re-uploaded, rather than only the affected files.
• If you downloaded either of the two Administrative Boundary ESRI Shapefiles between 22 November and 28 November 2022 and plan to use the Electoral Boundary component, you are advised to download the revised version dated 28 November 2022. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Further information on Administrative Boundaries, including FAQs on the data, is available here or through Geoscape Australia’s network of partners. They provide a range of commercial products based on Administrative Boundaries, including software solutions, consultancy and support.

Note: On 1 October 2020, PSMA Australia Limited began trading as Geoscape Australia.

The Australian Government has negotiated the release of Administrative Boundaries to the whole economy under an open CCBY 4.0 licence.

Users must only use the data in ways that are consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles issued under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

Users must also note the following attribution requirements:

Preferred attribution for the Licensed Material:

Administrative Boundaries © Geoscape Australia licensed by the Commonwealth of Australia under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0).

Preferred attribution for Adapted Material:

Incorporates or developed using Administrative Boundaries © Geoscape Australia licensed by the Commonwealth of Australia under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0).

What to Expect When You Download Administrative Boundaries

Administrative Boundaries is large dataset (around 1.5GB unpacked), made up of seven themes each containing multiple layers.

Users are advised to read the technical documentation including the product change notices and the individual product descriptions before downloading and using the product.

Please note this dataset is the most recent version of the Administrative Boundaries (AB). For previous versions of the AB please go to this url: https://data.gov.au/dataset/ds-dga-b4ad5702-ea2b-4f04-833c-d0229bfd689e/details?q=previous

License Information

The Australian Proterozoic Large Igneous Provinces GIS Dataset is designed for display at a nominal 1:5 000 000 scale, showing the time-space distribution of Proterozoic Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) in Australia. Large Igneous Provinces are relatively rare magmatic events distinguished by exceptionally large volumes of mafic dominated magma emplaced over short geological periods of a few millions years or less. Five major LIPs have been recognised, or proposed, so far in Australia, beginning with the ~1780 Ma Hart LIP, followed by the ~1210 Ma Marnda Moorn LIP, the ~1070 Ma Warakurna LIP, the ~825 Ma Gairdner LIP, and the ~510 Ma Kalkarindji LIP. The early Cambrian Kalkarindji LIP is included in this Proterozoic compilation because of its size and importance. Only the youngest two of these LIPs (Gairdner and Kalkarindji) are established as comagmatic provinces based on both time correlation and geochemical equivalence. The other proposed LIPs (Hart, Marnda Moorn and Warakurna) are based on time equivalence alone. For further information on the five proposed Proterozoic LIPs refer to the guide to using the map of Australian Proterozoic Large Igneous Provinces (Geoscience Australia Record 2009/44). Earlier released extracts include two pdf maps of Australian Proterozoic Large Igneous Provinces and an accompanying Geoscience Australia Record. This release presents the Australian Proterozoic Large Igneous Provinces as a GIS dataset and it should be used in conjunction with the Australian Mafic Ultramafic Magmatic Events GIS Dataset released by Geoscience Australia in 2014 (link). This file geodatabase that contains points, lines and polygons representing mafic and ultramafic rocks in Australia which have been placed in a magmatic event framework in time and space, primarily based on geochronological data. Together, these datasets provide comprehensive information on the evolution of mafic-ultramafic magmatism associated with the Australian continent, and will be of interest to explorers in the search of magmatic ore deposits of nickel, platinum-group elements, chromium, titanium, and vanadium.

This data is part of the series of maps that covers the whole of Australia at a scale of 1:250 000 (1cm on a map represents 2.5km on the ground) and comprises 513 maps. This is the largest scale at which published topographic maps cover the entire continent.
Data is downloadable in various distribution formats.

Abstract

This dataset and its metadata statement were supplied to the Bioregional Assessment Programme by a third party and are presented here as originally supplied.

This dataset contains 4 different scale GEODATA TOPO series, Geoscience Australia topographic datasets. 1M, 2.5M, 5M and 10M with age ranges from 2001 to 2004.

1:1 Million - Global Map Australia 1M 2001 is a digital dataset covering the Australian landmass and island territories, at a 1:1 million scale. Product Specifications -Themes: It consists of eight layers of information: Vector layers - administrative boundaries, drainage, transportation and population centres Raster layers - elevation, vegetation, land use and land cover -Coverage: Australia -Currency: Variable, based on GEODATA TOPO 250K Series 1 -Coordinates: Geographical -Datum: GDA94, AHD -Medium: Free online -Format: -Vector: ArcInfo Export, ESRI Shapefile, MapInfo mid/mif and Vector Product Format (VPF) -Raster: Band Interleaved by Line (BIL)

1:2.5 Million - GEODATA TOPO 2.5M 2003 is a national seamless data product aimed at regional or national applications. It is a vector representation of the Australian landscape as represented on the Geoscience Australia 2.5 million general reference map and is suitable for GIS applications. The product consists of the following layers: built-up areas; contours; drainage; framework; localities; offshore; rail transport; road transport; sand ridges; Spot heights; and waterbodies. It is a vector representation of the Australian landscape as represented on the Geoscience Australia 1:2.5 million scale general reference maps. This data supersedes the TOPO 2.5M 1998 product through the following characteristics: developed according to GEODATA specifications derived from GEODATA TOPO 250K Series 2 data where available. Product Specifications Themes: GEODATA TOPO 2.5M 2003 consists of eleven layers: built-up areas; contours; drainage; framework; localities; offshore; rail transport; road transport; sand ridges; spot heights; and waterbodies Coverage: Australia Currency: 2003 Coordinates: Geographical Datum: GDA94, AHD Format: ArcInfo Export, ArcView Shapefile and MapInfo mid/mif Medium: Free online - Available in ArcInfo Export, ArcView Shapefile and MapInfo mid/mif

1:5 Million - GEODATA TOPO 5M 2004 is a national seamless data product aimed at regional or national applications. It is a vector representation of the Australian landscape as represented on the Geoscience Australia 5 million general reference map and is suitable for GIS applications. Offshore and sand ridge layers were sourced from scanning of the original 1:5 million map production material. The remaining nine layers were derived from the GEODATA TOPO 2.5M 2003 dataset. Free online. Available in ArcInfo Export, ArcView Shapefile and MapInfo mid/mif. Product Specifications: Themes: consists of eleven layers: built-up areas; contours; drainage; framework; localities; offshore; rail transport; road transport; sand ridges, spot heights and waterbodies Coverage: Australia Currency: 2004 Coordinates: Geographical Datum: GDA94, AHD Format: ArcInfo Export, ArcView Shapefile and MapInfo mid/mif Medium: Free online

1:10 Million - The GEODATA TOPO 10M 2002 version of this product has been completely revised, including the source information. The data is derived primarily from GEODATA TOPO 250K Series 1 data. In October 2003, the data was released in double precision coordinates. It provides a fundamental base layer of geographic information on which you can build a wide range of applications and is particularly suited to State-wide and national applications. The data consists of ten layers: built-up areas, contours, drainage, Spot heights, framework, localities, offshore, rail transport, road transport, and waterbodies. Coverage: Australia Currency: 2002 Coordinates: Geographical Datum: GDA94, AHD Format: ArcInfo Export, Arcview Shapefile and MapInfo mid/mif Medium: Free online

Dataset History

1:1Million - Vector data was produced by generalising Geoscience Australia's GEODATA TOPO 250K Series 1 data and updated using Series 2 data where available in January 2001. Raster data was sourced from USGS and updated using GEODATA 9 Second DEM Series 2, 1:5 million, Vegetation - Present (1988) and National Land and Water Resources data. However, updates have not been subjected to thorough vetting. A more detailed land use classification for Australia is available at www.nlwra.gov.au.

Full Metadata - http://www.ga.gov.au/metadata-gateway/metadata/record/gcat_48006

1:2.5Million - Data for the Contours, Offshore, and Sand ridge layers was captured from 1:2.5 million scale mapping by scanning stable base photographic film positives of the original map production material. The key source material for Built-up areas, Drainage, Spot heights, Framework, Localities, Rail transport, Road transport and Waterbodies layers was GEODATA TOPO 2.5M 2003

Full Metadata - http://www.ga.gov.au/metadata-gateway/metadata/record/gcat_60804

1:5Million - Offshore and Sand Ridge layers have been derived from 1:5M scale mapping by scanning stable base photographic film positives of the various layers of the original map production material. The remaining layers were sourced from the GEODATA TOPO 2.5M 2003 product.

Full Metadata - http://www.ga.gov.au/metadata-gateway/metadata/record/gcat_61114

1:10Million - The key source for production of the Builtup Areas, Drainage, Framework, Localities, Rail Transport, Road Transport and Waterbodies layers was the GEODATA TOPO 250K Series 1 product. Some revision of the Builtup Areas, Road Transport, Rail Transport and Waterbodies layers was carried out using the latest available satelite imagery. The primary source for the Spot Heights, Contours and Offshore layers was the GEODATA TOPO 10M Version 1 product. A further element to the production of GEODATA TOPO 10M 2002 has been the datum shift from the Australian Geodetic Datum 1966 (AGD66) to the Geocentric Datum of Australia 1994 (GDA94).

Full Metadata - http://www.ga.gov.au/metadata-gateway/metadata/record/gcat_60803

Dataset Citation

Geoscience Australia (2001) Geoscience Australia GEODATA TOPO series - 1:1 Million to 1:10 Million scale. Bioregional Assessment Source Dataset. Viewed 09 October 2018, http://data.bioregionalassessments.gov.au/dataset/310c5d07-5a56-4cf7-a5c8-63bdb001cd1a.

This data is part of the series of maps that covers the whole of Australia at a scale of 1:250 000 (1cm on a map represents 2.5km on the ground) and comprises 513 maps. This is the largest scale at …Show full descriptionThis data is part of the series of maps that covers the whole of Australia at a scale of 1:250 000 (1cm on a map represents 2.5km on the ground) and comprises 513 maps. This is the largest scale at which published topographic maps cover the entire continent. Data is downloadable in various distribution formats.

This data is part of the series of maps that covers the whole of Australia at a scale of 1:250 000 (1cm on a map represents 2.5km on the ground) and comprises 513 maps. This is the largest scale at …Show full descriptionThis data is part of the series of maps that covers the whole of Australia at a scale of 1:250 000 (1cm on a map represents 2.5km on the ground) and comprises 513 maps. This is the largest scale at which published topographic maps cover the entire continent. Data is downloadable in various distribution formats.

The Geoscience Australia Onshore Seismic GIS layer is layer showing the locations of Onshore Seismic Survyes carried out by Geoscience Australia and it's predecessors, Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO) and the Bureau of Mineral Resources (BMR). The layer contains URL link to free downloadable data. The data includes processed data in SEGY format. The metadata includes acquisition reports, processing reports, processed images and so on. The data acquisition was carried out in Australia from 1949 to present by Geoscience Australia and various partners such as State and Geologcial Survey Organisations. The set of reflection and refraction data comprises over 12,000 km of coverage, and provides an insight into the variations in crustal architecture in the varied geological domains.

This data is part of the series of maps that covers the whole of Australia at a scale of 1:250 000 (1cm on a map represents 2.5km on the ground) and comprises 513 maps. This is the largest scale at …Show full descriptionThis data is part of the series of maps that covers the whole of Australia at a scale of 1:250 000 (1cm on a map represents 2.5km on the ground) and comprises 513 maps. This is the largest scale at which published topographic maps cover the entire continent. Data is downloadable in various distribution formats.

This data is part of the series of maps that covers the whole of Australia at a scale of 1:250 000 (1cm on a map represents 2.5km on the ground) and comprises 513 maps. This is the largest scale at …Show full descriptionThis data is part of the series of maps that covers the whole of Australia at a scale of 1:250 000 (1cm on a map represents 2.5km on the ground) and comprises 513 maps. This is the largest scale at which published topographic maps cover the entire continent. Data is downloadable in various distribution formats.

This data is part of the series of maps that covers the whole of Australia at a scale of 1:250 000 (1cm on a map represents 2.5km on the ground) and comprises 513 maps. This is the largest scale at which published topographic maps cover the entire continent. Data is downloadable in various distribution formats.

ESRI grids showing sea salinity, linearly interpolated from CARS2000 mean and seasonal fields to 0.1 degree spaced grid, at depths of 0, 150, 500, 1000 and 2000 metres. The loess filter used to …Show full descriptionESRI grids showing sea salinity, linearly interpolated from CARS2000 mean and seasonal fields to 0.1 degree spaced grid, at depths of 0, 150, 500, 1000 and 2000 metres. The loess filter used to create CARS2000 resolves at each point a mean value and a sinusoid with 1 year period (and in some cases a 6 month period sinusoid - the "semi-annual cycle".) The provided "annual amplitude" is simply the magnitude of that annual sinusoid. CARS is a set of seasonal maps of temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, phosphate and silicate, generated using Loess mapping from all available oceanographic data in the region. It covers the region 100-200E, 50-0S, on a 0.5 degree grid, and on 56 standard depth levels. Higher resolution versions are also available for the Australian continental shelf. The data was obtained from the World Ocean Atlas 98 and CSIRO Marine and NIWA archives. It was designed to improve on the Levitus WOA98 Atlas, in the Australian region. CARS2000 is derived from ocean cast data, which is always measured above the sea floor. However, for properties which do not change rapidly near the sea floor, this would not lead to a significant error. All the limitations of CARS2000 also apply here.

This data is part of the series of maps that covers the whole of Australia at a scale of 1:250 000 (1cm on a map represents 2.5km on the ground) and comprises 513 maps. This is the largest scale at …Show full descriptionThis data is part of the series of maps that covers the whole of Australia at a scale of 1:250 000 (1cm on a map represents 2.5km on the ground) and comprises 513 maps. This is the largest scale at which published topographic maps cover the entire continent. Data is downloadable in various distribution formats.

This data is part of the series of maps that covers the whole of Australia at a scale of 1:250 000 (1cm on a map represents 2.5km on the ground) and comprises 513 maps. This is the largest scale at …Show full descriptionThis data is part of the series of maps that covers the whole of Australia at a scale of 1:250 000 (1cm on a map represents 2.5km on the ground) and comprises 513 maps. This is the largest scale at which published topographic maps cover the entire continent. Data is downloadable in various distribution formats.

Abstract

This dataset and its metadata statement were supplied to the Bioregional Assessment Programme by a third party and are presented here as originally supplied.

The Geoscience Australia Onshore Seismic GIS layer is layer showing the locations of Onshore Seismic Survyes carried out by Geoscience Australia and it's predecessors, Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO) and the Bureau of Mineral Resources (BMR). The layer contains URL link to free downloadable data. The data includes processed data in SEGY format. The metadata includes acquisition reports, processing reports, processed images and so on. The data acquisition was carried out in Australia from 1949 to present by Geoscience Australia and various partners such as State and Geologcial Survey Organisations. The set of reflection and refraction data comprises over 12,000 km of coverage, and provides an insight into the variations in crustal architecture in the varied geological domains.

Dataset History

First published 2014. Will be updated as latest data becomes available.

http://www.ga.gov.au/metadata-gateway/metadata/record/gcat_f229d5de-356c-573c-e044-00144fdd4fa6/Geoscience+Australia+Onshore+Seismic+GIS+layer

The data acquisition was carried out in Australia from 1949 to present by Geoscience Australia and various partners such as State and Geologcial Survey Organisations.

Dataset Citation

Geoscience Australia (2014) Geoscience Australia onshore seismic GIS layer. Bioregional Assessment Source Dataset. Viewed 07 December 2018, http://data.bioregionalassessments.gov.au/dataset/d83e995a-41ac-41a7-806b-87b09de98065.

Main Rivers of Australia (1:1M Scale)

This GIS dataset provides location information and details about commodities exported from shipping ports around Australia. This dataset has been collated by Geoscience Australia from publicly available information as a guide only.

This data is part of the series of maps that covers the whole of Australia at a scale of 1:250 000 (1cm on a map represents 2.5km on the ground) and comprises 513 maps. This is the largest scale at which published topographic maps cover the entire continent. Data is downloadable in various distribution formats.

Abstract

This dataset and its metadata statement were supplied to the Bioregional Assessment Programme by a third party and are presented here as originally supplied.

Resource contains an ArcGIS file geodatabase raster for the National Vegetation Information System (NVIS) Major Vegetation Groups - Australia-wide, present extent (FGDB_NVIS4_1_AUST_MVG_EXT).

Related datasets are also included: FGDB_NVIS4_1_KEY_LAYERS_EXT - ArcGIS File Geodatabase Feature Class of the Key Datasets that make up NVIS Version 4.1 - Australia wide; and FGDB_NVIS4_1_LUT_KEY_LAYERS - Lookup table for Dataset Key Layers.

This raster dataset provides the latest summary information (November 2012) on Australia's present (extant) native vegetation. It is in Albers Equal Area projection with a 100 m x 100 m (1 Ha) cell size. A comparable Estimated Pre-1750 (pre-european, pre-clearing) raster dataset is available: - NVIS4_1_AUST_MVG_PRE_ALB. State and Territory vegetation mapping agencies supplied a new version of the National Vegetation Information System (NVIS) in 2009-2011. Some agencies did not supply new data for this version but approved re-use of Version 3.1 data. Summaries were derived from the best available data in the NVIS extant theme as at June 2012. This product is derived from a compilation of data collected at different scales on different dates by different organisations. Please refer to the separate key map showing scales of the input datasets. Gaps in the NVIS database were filled by non-NVIS data, notably parts of South Australia and small areas of New South Wales such as the Curlewis area. The data represent on-ground dates of up to 2006 in Queensland, 2001 to 2005 in South Australia (depending on the region) and 2004/5 in other jurisdictions, except NSW. NVIS data was partially updated in NSW with 2001-09 data, with extensive areas of 1997 data remaining from the earlier version of NVIS. Major Vegetation Groups were identified to summarise the type and distribution of Australia's native vegetation. The classification contains different mixes of plant species within the canopy, shrub or ground layers, but are structurally similar and are often dominated by a single genus. In a mapping sense, the groups reflect the dominant vegetation occurring in a map unit where there are a mix of several vegetation types. Subdominant vegetation groups which may also be present in the map unit are not shown. For example, the dominant vegetation in an area may be mapped as dominated by eucalypt open forest, although it contains pockets of rainforest, shrubland and grassland vegetation as subdominants. The (related) Major Vegetation Subgroups represent more detail about the understorey and floristics of the Major Vegetation Groups and are available as separate raster datasets: - NVIS4_1_AUST_MVS_EXT_ALB - NVIS4_1_AUST_MVS_PRE_ALB A number of other non-vegetation and non-native vegetation land cover types are also represented as Major Vegetation Groups. These are provided for cartographic purposes, but should not be used for analyses. For further background and other NVIS products, please see the links on http://www.environment.gov.au/erin/nvis/index.html.

The current NVIS data products are available from http://www.environment.gov.au/land/native-vegetation/national-vegetation-information-system.

Purpose

For use in Bioregional Assessment land classification analyses

Dataset History

NVIS Version 4.1

The input vegetation data were provided from over 100 individual projects representing the majority of Australia's regional vegetation mapping over the last 50 years. State and Territory custodians translated the vegetation descriptions from these datasets into a common attribute framework, the National Vegetation Information System (ESCAVI, 2003). Scales of input mapping ranged from 1:25,000 to 1:5,000,000. These were combined into an Australia-wide set of vector data. Non-terrestrial areas were mostly removed by the State and Territory custodians before supplying the data to the Environmental Resources Information Network (ERIN), Department of Sustainability Environment Water Population and Communities (DSEWPaC).

Each NVIS vegetation description was written to the NVIS XML format file by the custodian, transferred to ERIN and loaded into the NVIS database at ERIN. A considerable number of quality checks were performed automatically by this system to ensure conformity to the NVIS attribute standards (ESCAVI, 2003) and consistency between levels of the NVIS Information Hierarchy within each description. Descriptions for non-vegetation and non-native vegetation mapping codes were transferred via CSV files.

The NVIS vector (polygon) data for Australia comprised a series of jig-saw pieces, eachup to approx 500,000 polygons - the maximum tractable size for routine geoprocesssing. The spatial data was processed to conform to the NVIS spatial format (ESCAVI, 2003; other papers). Spatial processing and attribute additions were done mostly in ESRI File Geodatabases. Topology and minor geometric corrections were also performed at this stage. These datasets were then loaded into ESRI Spatial Database Engine as per the ERIN standard. NVIS attributes were then populated using Oracle database tables provided by custodians, mostly using PL/SQL Developer or in ArcGIS using the field calculator (where simple).

Each spatial dataset was joined to and checked against a lookup table for the relevant State/Territory to ensure that all mapping codes in the dominant vegetation type of each polygon (NVISDSC1) had a valid lookup description, including an allocated MVG. Minor vegetation components of each map unit (NVISDSC2-6) were not checked, but could be considered mostly complete.

Each NVIS vegetation description was allocated to a Major Vegetation Group (MVG) by manual interpretation at ERIN. The Australian Natural Resources Atlas (http://www.anra.gov.au/topics/vegetation/pubs/native_vegetation/vegfsheet.html) provides detailed descriptions of most Major Vegetation Groups. Three new MVGs were created for version 4.1 to better represent open woodland formations and forests (in the NT) with no further data available. NVIS vegetation descriptions were reallocated into these classes, if appropriate:

• Unclassified Forest

• Other Open Woodlands

• Mallee Open Woodlands and Sparse Mallee Shublands

(Thus there are a total of 33 MVGs existing as at June 2012). Data values defined as cleared or non-native by data custodians were attributed specific MVG values such as 25 - Cleared or non native, 27 - naturally bare, 28 - seas & estuaries, and 99 - Unknown.

As part of the process to fill gaps in NVIS, the descriptive data from non-NVIS sources was also referenced in the NVIS database, but with blank vegetation descriptions. In general. the gap-fill data comprised (a) fine scale (1:250K or better) State/Territory vegetation maps for which NVIS descriptions were unavailable and (b) coarse-scale (1:1M) maps from Commonwealth and other sources. MVGs were then allocated to each description from the available desciptions in accompanying publications and other sources.

Parts of New South Wales, South Australia, QLD and the ACT have extensive areas of vector "NoData", thus appearing as an inland sea. The No Data areas were dealt with differently by state. In the ACT and SA, the vector data was 'gap-filled' and attributed using satellite imagery as a guide prior to rasterising. Most of these areas comprised a mixture of MVG 24 (inland water) and 25 (cleared), and in some case 99 (Unknown). The NSW & QLD 'No Data' areas were filled using a raster mask to fill the 'holes'. These areas were attributed with MVG 24, 26 (water & unclassified veg), MVG 25 (cleared); or MVG 99 Unknown/no data, where these areas were a mixture of unknown proportions.

Each spatial dataset with joined lookup table (including MVG_NUMBER linked to NVISDSC1) was exported to a File Geodatabase as a feature class. These were reprojected into Albers Equal Area projection (Central_Meridian: 132.000000, Standard_Parallel_1: -18.000000, Standard_Parallel_2: -36.000000, Linear Unit: Meter (1.000000), Datum GDA94, other parameters 0).

Each feature class was then rasterised to a 100m raster with extents to a multiple of 1000 m, to ensure alignment. In some instances, areas of 'NoData' had to be modelled in raster. For example, in NSW where non-native areas (cleared, water bodies etc) have not been mapped. The rasters were then merged into a 'state wide' raster. State rasters were then merged into this 'Australia wide' raster dataset.

November 2012 Corrections

Closer inspection of the original 4.1 MVG Extant raster dataset highlighted some issues with the raster creation process which meant that raster pixels in some areas did not align as intended. These were corrected, and the new properly aligned rasters released in November 2012.

Dataset Citation

Department of the Environment (2012) Australia - Present Major Vegetation Groups - NVIS Version 4.1 (Albers 100m analysis product). Bioregional Assessment Source Dataset. Viewed 10 July 2017, http://data.bioregionalassessments.gov.au/dataset/57c8ee5c-43e5-4e9c-9e41-fd5012536374.

This data is part of the series of maps that covers the whole of Australia at a scale of 1:250 000 (1cm on a map represents 2.5km on the ground) and comprises 513 maps. This is the largest scale at which published topographic maps cover the entire continent.
Data is downloadable in various distribution formats.