This is a web map service for the Land Classification of the Shetland Isles. The classification was originally developed by the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology (ITE) in 1974 as a framework for ecological sampling and is a stratification of the land into a set of sixteen environmental strata at a 1km resolution. Each strata is an area sharing similar environmental characteristics (such as altitude, geology, distance from sea). The web map service contains two layers: 1) EnvironmentalStrata - all sixteen land classes; 2) OverviewOfStrata - land classes arranged into four related groups. The strata may briefly be described thus: Classes 1-4 - Coastal strata with few rivers running into the sea, gentle terrain; Classes 5-8 - Coastal strata with more sea and steeper slopes; Classes 9-12 - High altitude inland group, with few small water bodies; Classes 13-16 - Lower altitude zones with much peat and freshwater lochans. The four strata within each of these groups contain subtly different variations.
