Process_Description:
The original dataset was downloaded from the Selva Maya website and re-projected into UTM. Belize was extracted from the larger dataset. Regarding how the dataset was originally compiled by the Selva Maya consortium, the accompanying metadata indicates the following:
"For the preparation of this paper, the methodology proposed by J.Tricart and J.Kilian was used, which has been shown to be useful for ecological evaluation and land use planning studies. The basic principles of this methodology are the study of relief formations based on the recognition of soil geomorphology, for which the dynamics of terrestrial processes and the origin of soil formation are considered. The recognition of geomorphology allows us to delineate the morphological units, which are classified using the criteria of genesis and dynamics. The criteria applied allows us by definition to recognize three different stages in the evolution of the units: stability, instability or conditional stability; these stages are the result of the behavior/reaction of rocks to atmospheric action and the physical and chemical processes of water, to gravity and the influence of solar energy, and the influence of vegetation cover on exogenic processes. The evolution of morphoedaphological units manifests itself through on-going processes or those that are past degradation, transport and accumulation, or thru sedimentation processes. Within the planning unit, a variety of geomorphological units were identified that were the result of different physical processes."
For further information, consult the full Selva Maya metadata documentation at: http://www.selvamaya.org/selva/metadato/spam_2002.mdb