The Scottish Bracken Map provides a baseline for monitoring the distribution of bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) at 10 metre resolution across Scotland. It was commissioned by the Scottish Government following the ban on usage of the herbicide Asulam, and supported by the Scottish Bracken Working Group as part of their aim to address key evidence gaps relating to the extent and management of bracken in Scotland. The dataset is intended to support monitoring, land management, environmental assessment and future updates of national bracken extent.The dataset is supplied as two related outputs:Bracken Classification: a binary map identifying areas predicted to contain bracken vegetation.Bracken Probability: a continuous raster showing the modelled probability (0-100%) of bracken presence for each 10 m pixel, allowing users to apply alternative thresholds according to their requirements.The Bracken Map was derived using Earth Observation and machine learning techniques applied to 2024 satellite and environmental data. The model was based on summer and autumn composites of Sentinel-1 radar imagery and Sentinel-2 optical imagery (NDVI maximum composites), elevation and canopy height data, and training data from field surveys and habitat mapping sources.The final classification achieved an overall accuracy of approximately 85% (88% recall and 79% precision) and identified around 208,000 hectares of bracken across Scotland. A full methodology can be found in the accompanying technical documentation: Creation of a Scottish Bracken Map.
