landcov_rfe_readme.txt
9/25/02

AVHRR-Derived Land Cover, Former Soviet Union, Far East (1-km), 1996


Note:  there are several formats of the same data provided with this data set.
These include:  binary raster data in IDRISI format, ASCIIGRID raster data 
in ASCII format (easily imported into ARC/INFO), vector data in ArcView 
shapefile format, and a graphic map in JPG format.  Please read all
documentation before using these files. 

Data files:
-----------
landcov_rfe.img - a binary raster image depicting land cover (1990) in IDRISI 
             format.  Note:  must be converted to an *rst file when using 
             version 3.2 of IDRISI.  Use the "Idrisi File Conversion (16/32)"
             utility available in the file pulldown menu to convert to the 
             new format.

landcov_rfe.doc - companion file to fmap90.img.  This text  file describes the 
             raster data.  Most of the descriptive information (aside from 
             file type) is applicable to the ASCIIGRID version of the data 
             (landcov_rfe.dat) as well as the binary IDRISI version of the data 
             (landcov_rfe.img).  Note: this file MUST be present for the binary 
             data to be read by IDRISI.  Furthermore, the *doc file must be 
             converted to an *rdc file when using version 3.2 of IDRISI. Use
             the "Idrisi File Conversion (16/32)" utility available in the file
             pulldown menu to convert to the new format. 

landcov_rfe.dat - compressed ASCIIGRID version of the binary raster data 
                (landcov_rfe.img).  This data file was created by converting 
                the IDRISI binary file (landcov_rfe.img) using IDRISI export 
                utilities.  The ASCII file was compressed using the gzip 
                utility available in UNIX.  Note:  it was necessary to first 
                convert the *.img file to a *rst file and the *doc file to a 
                *rdc file to match the new file format and naming convention 
                of raster data supported by IDRISI 3.2.

landcov_rfe.zip - vector map version of data (same info as raster data 
                 landcov_rfe.img and landcov_rfe.dat) in ArcView shapefile 
                 format (compressed).  In addition to shapefile components, 
                 the zip file also contains an ArcView legend (*avl) for
                 displaying the data in ArcView.   

Viewer Images:
--------------
landcov_rfe.jpg - graphic map depicting land cover for the Russian Far East 
                  (1990).


Companion Files:
----------------
landcov_rfe_projection.txt - text file containing information on geographic
                             projections used.

landcov_rfe_mapcode.txt - additional documentation describing the map classes 
                          used.

landcov_rfe_report.doc - MS Word document, describing methods used in 
                         preparing this data set.

WWF_landcover_Stone_1996.pdf - pdf file version of landcov_rfe_report.doc.
                               Report describes methods used in preparing
                               this data set.

landcov_rfe_readme.txt - this file.