Annual soil cover map (JaarBAK), 1 m resolution, 2022 (provisional)

The annual soil cover map (JaarBAK) for Flanders at 1 m resolution indicates for each cell whether it is covered or not. The JaarBAK is available annually from 2013. For this last available year it is a provisional version without continuity correction. This correction corrects deviations over time, but can only be applied if the Annual BAK of the following year also exists. As soon as this is the case, this provisional version will be replaced by the final version. In the meantime, the preliminary version can already be used for analyses, albeit with the necessary caution. The White Paper on Spatial Policy Plan defines 'soil cover' as the area where the nature and/or condition of the soil surface has been changed by the application of artificial, (semi-) impermeable materials, as a result of which essential ecosystem functions of the soil are lost (homes, roads, other constructions…). This definition is based on the one used by the European Commission for 'soil sealing': "the destruction or covering of soils by buildings, constructions and layers of completely or partly impermeable artificial material (asphalt, concrete, etc.). It is the most intense form of land take and is essentially an irreversible process". For this map, soil cover is first predicted by a machine learning model based on the medium-scale winter aerial images of Flanders. This modeled soil cover is then combined with vector information about water, buildings, roads and railways from the Large-Scale Reference File. For more details about the method used to draw up the JaarBAK, please refer to the technical report 'Annual soil cover map of Flanders' at https://archief.onderzoek.geving.vlaanderen.be/Onderzoek-3331558.