A new land use classification has been established in BPN/PGT, and agreed on by the Director and all four Subdirectors. It is very similar to the LREPP-II/B classification, thus conversion between the two is not a problem.

It is hierarchically structured, gives option to incorporate additional units, has a numeric code, and is defined at different scales with different levels of detail: All those are characteristica, which have been formulated by the LREPP team for a long time. In total, at the most detailed level (1: 25,000 scale), it consists of more than 260 land use classes, while 'old' LREPP classification had some 240 classes.

With a transition period, it is planned by BPN that all mapping activities are following this standard, and all data are stored in this standard.

Consequences for LREPP-II/B:

Because users (example, Banga) have already been using the 'old' LREPP-II/B classification, there should be no confusion on their side. Therefore, the 'old' LREPP-II/B classification will be maintained.

On the other side, LREPP data are part of BPN data, and thus should not follow different formats ! An automatic conversion will take care of this conversion to the 'new' BPN classification.

Action for LREPP-II/B information system (ILUD): 1) In DBMS, both systems will be maintained. Land use classes are stored in fields CLAS1, CLAS2, CLAS3 with 'new' classification and in CLAS1_LRP, CLAS2_LRP, CLAS3_LRP with 'old' classification, in the LU??FD??.DBF files. In the very long term, it might be possible, to delete the fields with the 'old' LREPP classification.
2) In DBMS, whenever a data file is called up, an autodetection scheme is running, to check, if the data structure has already been adjusted and data converted to the 'new' classification. Such an autodetection scheme is necessary, because data can be stored anywhere: In different computers, on floppy disks, on MO drives, on backups in draws or even at home. If the 'autodetection' finds an updated file structure (with the 'new' classification), no action is taken. If the 'autodetection' finds an 'old' structure, a warning is given to adjust the file structure and to convert the data. This can be done through ILUDUtil - Fix - Adjust file structure.
3) In DBMS, any new data entry (through 'ILUDEntr') is storing land use classes both in 'old' and 'new' classification.
4) In DBMS, the processing of field data (with routine 'ILUDProc') to prepare an attribute file for the GIS (file LU??PA??.dbf) will have the option 'Previous LREPP-II classification' in addition to the default of 'New BPN classification'. This enables the operator to choose between these two classifications.
5) In GIS, only a minor change of file structure is envisaged to keep all modules operational in the same way:
There will be one additional item (field) which defines the version of the data, and the classification (either BPN/PGT or LREPP classification).
Land use classes and information stored in items CLAS1, CLAS1_NAM, CLAS1_NMR, CLAS2, CLAS2_NAM, CLAS2_NMR. The classification here is the one selected in the process of 'ILUDProc' above.
6) In GIS, an additional option will be incorporated in the utility set 'ILUDUtl' to convert an existing coverage with the 'old' classification to the 'new' classification.
7) Alternatively, the classification of the GIS files and of the plotted maps, can easily be changed anytime and within a short time (some 10 minutes) through 'ILUDProc' and 'ILUDLab' again.