Caption: Land uses and human influences on the environment are evident in the image. The relatively dry pasture of the Midlands, shown as near white (indicating a high degree of light reflection), contrasts with the light green intensive cropping land uses on the north-west coast. On the west coast, the mining landscape of Queenstown is shown as a bright white area north of Macquarie Harbour. Fire on the west coast south of Macquarie Harbour has led to the loss of peatland soil and has exposed the underlying rock-shown as a brown and white swathe running in a north-south direction between Macquarie Harbour and the Southern Ocean. Forest coupes in various stages of harvesting and regeneration can be seen in the north-west, north-east and south-east (shown as small light patches within the darker green forested areas). The mosaic was assembled from images captured at different dates and seasons to assemble a cloud-free coverage: this is shown clearly in the relative greenness of pasture in the central north (base data from November 2000) compared with the north-west (base data from February 2000). Changes since the last report are noticeable particularly in the north-west with clearance of woody vegetation for pasture around Woolnorth and plantation development in the Gunns Limited plantations at Surrey Hills near Hampshire.

Source: AUSLIG, Australian Centre for Remote Sensing, mosaic prepared by School of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Tasmania from base data dated 1999-01