DATA: GLOBCOVER LAND COVER v2 (ESA)
[Status: Available at TerraViva! GeoServer.]

It is nearly impossible to overstate the importance of global land use/land cover datasets in the scientific study of climate change. Human impact on the face of the Earth has been profound, and land use is one of the human activities significantly affecting greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. So it was a milestone when the European Space Agency recently released a higher resolution - 300m (10 arc second) - global land use map, GlobCover Land Cover v2, with fractional classifications.

GlobCover's fractional classifications (e.g. "Closed (>40%) broadleaved deciduous forest") are an improvement over categorical classifications "because they yield improved depictions of spatially complex landscapes," (Hansen, 2003) and provide better insight into trends and change. GlobCover data are from the ENVISAT satellite mission's MERIS multispectral sensor.

Spotlight Archives>>