Introduction » CIS: background and data types » Background

Background

CIS is a stand-alone package for a Microsoft Windows PC.

It describes information for the British Isles, divided into UK (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland), Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) and Northern Ireland.

CIS uses a spatial unit of 1 kilometre (km) square to carry data. CIS does not handle points, lines, boundaries or parcels as spatial units, but it is capable of carrying such data types expressed as number, length or extent of an element per 1 km square (e.g. number of hedgerow trees, length of fence or area or habitat).

In the definition of the British Isles (or GB) a set of 1 km squares have been identified for which data can be held. It includes some squares in the sea (e.g. Morecambe Bay or the Wash), but it should be noted that datasets may not carry information for all possible squares. It is essential that the user recognises the region covered (and excluded) by different datasets as these are not always the same.

CIS layout

In CIS every open dataset has its own pair of windows: the map and data windows. These can be resized in standard Windows fashion and their contents copied and pasted into other packages.

Data

Any data describing Britain that can be mapped and summarised by 1 km squares can be loaded into CIS.

CIS has been used a tool to distribute the results of the Countryside Surveys in 19901 and in 1998. CS has 2 components: a sample-based field survey and a satellite-based land cover map. More information can be found on the Countryside Surveys can be found at www.cs2000.org.uk

CIS can be used to generate national estimates of land cover using both components of the Countryside Survey: the field survey through extrapolation of its detailed results from a representative sample, the land cover map taking a more generalized view to map every part of the country. This can be seen in the maps and data descriptions below.

The tables below show the difference in land covers for the two approaches.

Table 1. Satellite summary categories

Region title: England (135126 squares)
Overlay: dataset: CEN-V: Conifer

Description	Density ha/sq km	Total ha	% Data Cover
Broadleaf	2.21	298000	99.98
Conifer	8.09	1093000	99.98
Arable & hortic.	35.82	4839000	99.98
Improved grassland	22.37	3023000	99.98
Semi natural	13.57	183300	99.98
Upland	3.56	481000	99.98
Open Water	0.44	59000	99.98
Built-up	10.22	1380000	99.98
Coastal	1.41	190000	99.98

Table 2. Stock of Broad Habitats in 1998

Region title: England (135126 squares)
Overlay: dataset: SAM-V: Coniferous wood 98

Description	Density ha/sq km	Std Err	Total ha	Std Err	% Data Cover
Improved grass 98	28.54	1.291	3663000	165800	95
Arable/hortic. 98	34.19	1.524	4389000	195600	95
Neutral grass 98	3.04	0.357	391000	45900	95
Broadleaved/mixd 98	7.76	0.588	997000	75500	95
Coniferous wood 98	2.33	0.459	299000	58900	95
Bogs 98	0.77	0.216	98000	27700	95
D-shrub heath 98	2.82	0.513	362000	65800	95
Acid grass 98	2.98	0.4	382000	51400	95
Fen/marsh/swamp 98	1.16	0.221	148000	28300	95
Bracken 98	1.29	0.251	166000	32200	95
Calcareous grass 98	0.28	0.128	35000	16500	95
Inland rock 98	0.1	0.029	12000	3700	95
Montane 98	0	0.006	0	800	95
St-open water 98	0.69	0.341	89000	43800	95
Rivers & streams 98	0.28	0.042	36000	5400	95
Littoral sed. 98	0.92	0.326	118000	41800	95
Supralit. rock 98	0.11	0.031	14000	3900	95
Supralit. sed. 98	0.18	0.086	24000	11000	95
Built up areas 98	8.12	0.773	1042000	99300	95
Boundary/linear 98	2.84	0.147	365000	18900	95