LULC 2020

ISO 19115-3 Metadata

Metadata Information

Metadata identifier:

Identifier code: 4DE34548-7288-4AD5-809B-F0BE0F43B684

Default locale:

Language code: eng

Character encoding: utf8

Metadata contact:

Role: pointOfContact

Responsible party:

Organization:

Name: NLCS

Indvidual:

Individual:

Name: Jigme Namgay

Position name: SE

Metadata date information:

Date type: revision

Date: 2025-06-12T00:00:00

Metadata standard:

Title: ISO 19115-3 Geographic Information - Metadata - Part 1: Fundamentals

Edition: 2014

Metadata scope:

Resource scope: dataset

Metadata maintenance:

Update frequency: asNeeded

Data Identification Information

Resource citation:

Title: LULC 2020

Citation date:

Date type: creation

Date: 2023-01-01T00:00:00

Cited responsible party:

Role: pointOfContact

Responsible party:

Organization:

Name: DoSAM, NLCS

Indvidual:

Individual:

Name: Lobzang Tobgye

Position name: Deputy Chief Survey Engineer,

Other citation details: https://www.nlcs.gov.bt/wp-content/uploads/publications/LULC_Maps_Statistics_Report.pdf

Abstract: The Land Use Land Cover (LULC) 2020 map of Bhutan highlights major land cover types, with forests dominating at 69% (a slight decrease from 2016). Other significant categories include Snow and Glacier (4.83%), Shrubs (4.11%), and Alpine Scrubs (8.89%, up from 3.39% in 2016). Minor covers include agriculture (2.96%), water bodies (0.61%), and built-up areas (0.25%). The map has an overall accuracy of 87% (kappa 0.853).The Sentinel-2 imagery, acquired from ESA's Copernicus Open Access Hub, underwent several pre-processing steps. The image classification was carried out using random forest technique using the e-cognition software.

Purpose: The derived information from the LULC assessment will greatly contribute to spatial planning and the management of limited resources for sustainable development in Bhutan. THe LULC is aimed to derive comprehensive and precise information on land use and land cover.

Credits: The successful completion of the national LULC mapping project was made possible through the funding and support of the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) and the assistance provided by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Point of contact:

Role: originator

Responsible party:

Organization:

Name: DoSAM, NLCS

Indvidual:

Individual:

Name: Lobzang Tobgye

Position name: Deputy Chief Survey Engineer,

Spatial representation type: vector

Themes or categories of the resource: environment, location, planningCadastre

Resource extent:

Geographic element:

Bounding rectangle:

West longitude: 89.610376

East longitude: 89.680959

North latitude: 27.541704

South latitude: 27.407951

Resource maintenance:

Update frequency: asNeeded

User-defined maintenance frequency: As an when needed

Descriptive keywords:

Keywords: Downloadable Data

Thesaurus:

Citation reference: 723f6998-058e-11dc-8314-0800200c9a66

Resource constraints:

General Constraints:

Limitations of use: Open

Default locale:

Language code: eng

Character encoding: utf8

Spatial Representation Information

Vector Data

Level of topology for this dataset: geometryOnly

Geometric objects:

Object type: composite

Object count: 60970

Reference System Information

Reference system identifier:

Identifier code: 5266

Codespace: EPSG

Resource Lineage

Lineage scope:

Scope level: series

Source:

Source description: Remote sensing technique using the Sentinel-2 Image (10 meters).

Process step:

Process description: The Sentinel-2 imagery, acquired from ESA's Copernicus Open Access Hub, underwent several pre-processing steps, including atmospheric correction using Sen2Core to convert Level-1C (ToA reflectance) to Level-2A (BoA reflectance), followed by resampling in SNAP software to ensure uniform spatial resolution. The individual bands were then layer-stacked in ERDAS IMAGINE, grouped by their spatial resolutions (10m, 20m, and 60m), with some bands excluded from classification. The images, initially in WGS 1984 UTM Zones 45N/46N, were reprojected to Bhutan's DRUKREF 03 National Grid for consistency. Finally, all 13 tiles were mosaicked using ArcGIS and subset to Bhutan's boundary to create a seamless composite for analysis.The image classification was carried out using random forest technique using the e-cognition software.Used Arcmap for analysis and used QGIS for symbology.

Distribution Information

Distribution format:

Format specification citation:

Title: Shapefile

Edition: NA