The DEA Land Cover map and DEA Waterbodies dataset are valuable resources for a wide range of users, including environmental managers, ecosystem specialists, and urban developers.
These layers provide detailed and up-to-date insights into Australia’s land cover and waterbody extents, supporting sustainable management and informed decision-making across industries.
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DEA Land Cover
The Digital Earth Australia Land Cover (DEA Land Cover) dataset offers annual land cover classifications for the entire Australian continent. With its 25-meter resolution, this map differentiates between water, natural surfaces, artificial surfaces (e.g., built-up areas), and three distinct vegetation classes.
Features of the DEA Land Cover layer:
25-meter resolution: Each pixel in the map represents a 25 m x 25 m area, providing a detailed spatial view.
Annual updates: The map reflects predominant land cover conditions for the previous year, updated annually. This enables monitoring of land use changes over time.***
High-quality data: Derived from Landsat satellite imagery, this dataset is part of Geoscience Australia’s Digital Earth Australia program, ensuring reliability and accuracy.
Currently, the DEA Land Cover map is view-only on the Birdi platform. Users can load and visualize the layer's classifications seamlessly. For example, the map below shows land cover classifications across the Tweed Shire area in northern New South Wales.
DEA has published a list of the classification categories which enable identification of different waterbodies, natural and artificial surfaces, vegetation types and cultivated areas.
Here is the legend for the symbology of each classification to help you with utilizing this layer in your analysis. Eventually, this will be visualized in the platform for seamless analysis.
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DEA Waterbodies
Accurate and up-to-date information about surface water is critical for understanding and managing this valuable resource. DEA Waterbodies provides a pre-generated map of nearly 300,000 waterbodies across Australia, derived from over 30 years of Landsat satellite imagery. This dataset offers insights into the location, extent, and wet surface area of waterbodies.
What DEA Waterbodies offers:
Comprehensive mapping: Identifies waterbodies larger than 2,700 m² (approximately 3 Landsat pixels) that were present more than 10% of the time between 1987–2020.
Historical trends: Uses a time series to track changes in the wet surface area of waterbodies.
Satellite-derived accuracy: The dataset is based on the DEA Water Observations classifier, which detects open water in Landsat pixels.
The map below highlights what this would look like in the same area as the DEA map above, with the satellite imagery basemap.
Important considerations:
The dataset shows wet surface area, not depth, volume, or the waterbody's purpose or source.
Larger waterbodies are easier to detect, while smaller or narrower waterbodies may be harder to identify.
Area estimates should be compared with additional data sources for verification.
This layer is a powerful tool for:
Monitoring changes in waterbody extents over time
Understanding the impact of climate variability and human activities on water resources
Supporting water resource planning and management
With Birdi, you can now visualize DEA Land Cover and DEA Waterbodies directly within your workflows, enabling better project outcomes. Whether you're tracking environmental changes, assessing water resources, or planning urban developments, these layers provide the foundational insights you need.
More information about each map can be found on the DEA Land Cover product details page and the DEA Waterbodies product details page.
What's Next?
For more information about using the new lay layers, refer to these helpful articles:
For more detailed information, check out these resources:
Geoscience Australia - DEA Landcover: https://www.ga.gov.au/dea/products/dea-land-cover
Geoscience Australia - DEA Waterbodies: https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/dea/dea-data-and-products/dea-waterbodies