1. Integration of Territorial And Land Information
“ITALI”
Integration of Territorial And Land Information
Sandro Cruciani, ISTAT
“Pilot studies on the provision of harmonized land use/land cover statistics (Synergies between LUCAS and the Italian national system)”
Grant Agreement N

2. A summary of the Italian context
In Italy official, consistent, complete and replicable statistics on LC/LU are not available at the moment, BUT …
The supply of public or non-public geodata is large, though strongly fragmented
Deep differences are found:
In the classifications adopted
In the reporting period
In the regional coverage
In the tools and techniques used (eg. Sampling design or the reference period of remotely sensed images)
In the compliance with the guidelines/international regulations
Even in the quality/comparability of the data produced?
The reason is: plurality of public bodies and then different objectives

3. IUTI: Year 2008, 1.206.198 points POPOLUS: Year 2009, 1.206.823 points
An example
IUTI: Year 2008, points
POPOLUS: Year 2009, points

4. Main targets of the project
Specifically for the Grant
Harmonise data collection methods and main land cover/use statistics produced (and disseminated) by Italian national statistical system with those carried out by Eurostat
Produce quality statistics on LC/LU
For the National Statistical System
To systematize the available sources also through a better knowledge of their technical aspects
Creating synergies between the actors involved in order to improve the integration and quality of available data
Provide operational guidance on technical standards and classifications

5. ITALI (Integration of Territorial And Land cover/use Information)
ITALI working group
ITALI (Integration of Territorial And Land cover/use Information)
ISTAT (coordinator)
ISPRA “Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale
INEA “Istituto nazionale di economia agraria”
MiPAAF “Ministero delle politiche agricole, alimentari e forestali” e CFS “Corpo forestale dello Stato”
SIN “Sistema Informativo Nazionale per lo sviluppo dell’agricoltura”

6. The GRANT: organisation and objectives
Pilot studies on the provision of harmonized land use/land cover statistics (synergies between LUCAS and the Italian national systems)
Detailed objectives are:
The integration of the sources and the information available on LC/LU
The production of coherent and consistent statistics for the whole Italian territory
The comparison between LUCAS data and those from national surveys, in particular for in-situ data collection
Propose a strategy for the integration between LUCAS and national sources
Activities are arranged in 4 Work Package

7. Work package WP1 - Analysis of the main national data sources on LC/LU
Describe the processes of production of the main domestic sources of LC / LU
Deep analysis of the classifications adopted and then highlight coherence / incoherence with international classifications
WP2 - Integration of some sources for area estimation
Produce consistent estimates on LC using LUCAS classification, at least for the regional level (NUTS2)
WP3 - Pilot data collection on LC/LU
Quality control on the estimates produced also using a pilot study on a sample area
WP4 - Integration of national sources with LUCAS
Feasibility check of integration between LUCAS and some national sources
Feasibility project and cost estimate to set up integration of sources

8. National sources selected
BT – Census enumeration areas (ISTAT)
Popolus - Permanent Observation POints for Land Use Statistics (MiPAAF)
AGRIT (MiPAAF)
IUTI - Italian Land-Use Inventory (Environment Ministry)
Land take & soil sealing monitoring network (ISPRA)
INFC - Italian national forest inventory (National Forest Service (NFS) with technical support of CRA-MPF)
Others sources (GMES High-Resolution Layers, GMES Urban Atlas, Corine Land Cover, ecc.)

9. Geographical metadata

10. Classifications: National sources versus LUCAS

11. Preliminary evaluation on classification coherence

12. Completed activities
For each source metadata are collected using the EURO-SDMX Metadata Structure (see previous tables)
The metadata have been published, using the standard Inspire, on a geo-portal for public consultation
The project has been presented at many public events and a strong interest among stakeholder has been registered
Other institutional bodies have offered to participate actively in the success of the project

13. Preparation of the first "interim report" (end of June 2013)
Ongoing activities
Preparation of the first "interim report" (end of June 2013)
Numerical comparison between the estimates on LC/LU obtained from each sources selected
Starting consideration on the best methodology for national sources integration
An article for the magazine of statistics “NEWSSTAT” has been prepared
Creation of a website dedicated to project activities (

14. Thank you for your attention