British Isles, acquired on 2nd April 2025 by Sentinel-3. Credit: European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-3 imagery

Two articles close to home caught our attention this week. Firstly, a new map of trees outside woodlands in England created using Sentinel-2 data and other sources, and secondly a fantastic cloud-free image of the British Isles acquired last week by Sentinel-3.

Mapping Trees in England

For the first time, last weekend, a map was released showing the trees in England that live outside of woodlands, and it demonstrates that these trees encompass 30% of the country’s tree cover. Trees outside woodlands are defined as single trees in urban and rural areas including hedgerows, on streets and in parks; and they play an important role in storing carbon, regulating temperatures, mitigating climate change, and reducing the impacts of air pollution.

Mapping of these non-woodland trees helps identify areas of nature depletion across and the country, which can support individuals, conservation groups and local authorities to achieve targeted tree planting. It can also identify potential opportunities to connect single trees to nearby wooded areas and create better wildlife habitats.

The new map was developed by the UK Government’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and Forest Research, funded through the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment programme.

The map is derived from:

• LIDAR data from 2016 to 2022 from the National Lidar Survey and LIDAR Vegetation Object Model, with
• Sentinel-2 satellite data from 2021 to 2024.

This data has been processed with an algorithm predicting which of the features on the input data were trees, and the feature detection accuracy of trees outside woodlands is 95%.

Plymouth City Centre extract from Trees Outside Woodland mapping tool from the NCEA ArcGIS Online web portal

Given the data is historic, it is not fully representative of England’s trees in 2025. For example, we know in Plymouth that our local council, has been planting trees in the city centre as part of a regeneration project, to replace trees, that the same council chopped down in March 2023. So, the current representation of Plymouth city centre, shown on the right, appears to be pre-March 2023, as we know the majority of the green strip just off centre, no longer exist. It is reported that the dataset can be updated regularly, and it will be interesting to see if it is, and how frequently.

The map is available to access online at Trees Outside Woodland Map – Forest Research; it can be freely downloaded from the Forestry Commission open data download website; and will be available via open web services from Defra’s Data Services Platform later this month.

Finally, it was highlighted by Freddie Hunter, Head of Remote Sensing at Forest Research, that combining this new dataset with the National Forest Inventory woodland map gives an overall view of the tree canopy in England.

This new map fills a data gap about England’s trees, and tree canopy, and could help improve decision-making around the management and protection of these natural assets.

Clear Skies

Last week also saw the release of a stunning cloud-free image of the British Isles acquired by Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellite on the 2nd April 2025, which can be seen at the top of the blog.

Last month was the sunniest March on record since 1910, and the image reflects the sunshine and exceptionally dry weather we’ve having. It is also interesting to see the suspended sediment in the surrounding coastal waters.

Summary

While there is a lot of turmoil in the world, it is fantastic to see satellite remote sensing being used to create useful data about the natural world, and it is hoped that these datasets will help improve our understanding and management of trees and the wider natural habitats in the country.