The Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi (EAD) has completed mapping of terrestrial and marine habitats, land use and land cover for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The project covered the entire Emirate — 59,640 square kilometers of terrestrial and 28,220 square kilometers of marine environments.

 

This is possibly the largest and most detailed delineation of habitats in the world. Advanced image-processing techniques together with validation through field surveys have resulted in data accuracy exceeding 90% in the land and 75% in marine areas. An innovative mapping approach combined several terrestrial and marine habitats into an integrated classification schema. This powerful data set will allow environmental decision-making to be much more objective and quantitative.

 

Protected area delineation, environmental permitting, land-use and conservation planning, quantifying ecosystem services, estimating blue carbon, detecting land degradation and habitat loss, etc. are just some of the areas where the mapping is being utilized.

 

It is worth noting that through the satellite based mapping approach adopted for this project; EAD was able to make significant savings in terms of time, effort and money, compared to the traditional field survey methods, which would have taken several years to complete. Additionally a field-based approach would not have been able to provide the “snap shot” in time provided by this project.

 

All data related to the project has been made available to all interested parties through EAD’s Environmental Data Geoportal (enviroportal.ead.ae). The data can also be access on iPad and android phones through an app “Beatty”, which can be downloaded from Apple’s Appstore.