Land Cover Focus Area Contributions to International Structures
GCOS
GCOS target requirements for Land Cover were set as follows (GCOS-245):
| Variable/Parameter | Horizontal Resolution | Temporal Resolution | Latency | Required Measurement Uncertainly | Stability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maps of land cover | 100-300 m | 1 month | 3 months | 5% for accuracy and errors of omission and commission and hectares for area estimates incl. 95% confidence intervals | 5% incl. 95% confidence intervals |
| Maps of high-resolution land cover | <10 m | 1 month | 3 months | 5% for accuracy and errors of omission and commission and hectares for area estimates incl. 95% confidence intervals | 5% incl. 95% confidence intervals |
| Maps of key IPCC land use, related changes and land management types | 10-300 m / degree | 1 month | 1 month | 5% for accuracy and errors of omission and commission and hectares for area estimates incl. 95% confidence intervals | 5% incl. 95% confidence intervals |
GTOS Land Cover Document
Herold, M., C. Woodcock, J. Cihlar, M. Wulder, O. Arino, F. Achard, M. Hansen, H. Olsson, C. Schmulllius, M. Brady, A. Di Gregorio, J. Latham, R. Sessa, 2009. Land Cover, ECV-T9: GTOS Assessment of the status of the development of standards for the Terrestrial Essential Climate Variables, ed., R. Sessa, FAO, Rome.
GOFC-GOLD
Global Observations of Forest Cover and Land-use Dynamics (GOFC-GOLD) is a coordinated international program working to provide ongoing space-based and in situ observations of the land surface to support sustainable management of terrestrial resources at different scales.
GFOI
The Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) was established under the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) in 2011. Through the collaborative action of its partners, GFOI aims to assist countries to produce reliable, consistent reports on change in forest cover and forest use, and associated anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and removals. Its Methods and Guidance component provides methodological advice on the joint use of remotely sensed and ground-based data to estimate and report greenhouse gas emissions and removals associated with forest. Its Research and Development Coordination Component works to address methodological and technical issues that interfere with progress in the forest and land use monitoring and greenhouse gas accounting efforts of tropical countries. The component fosters a community of experts to identify science and technology that can improve the efficiency of forest monitoring efforts.
GEOGLAM Essential Agricultural Variables
The purpose of Group on Earth Observations Global Agricultural Monitoring (GEOGLAM) Initiative is to increase market transparency and improve food security by producing and disseminating relevant, timely, and actionable information on agricultural conditions and outlook on production at national, regional, and global scales. It achieves this by strengthening the international community's capacity to utilize coordinated, comprehensive, and sustained Earth Observations.
Since 2011, the GEOGLAM community has been growing at a steady pace, collaborating with more and more international initiatives. Over time, demand has increased for quantitative estimations of cropland and rangeland state and change. Consequently, GEOGLAM is working on the definition of the minimum set of variables required to meet current and evolving policy drivers. These are referred to as Essential Agricultural Variables (EAVs) for GEOGLAM.
Cropland Validation Workshop (Sept 2023)
In a collaborative effort to enhance the accuracy and consistency of cropland and crop type mapping, NASA sponsored a workshop jointly organized by the LPV Land Cover focus area of the CEOS Working Group on Calibration and Validation (WGCV) and by the Group on Earth Observations Global Agricultural Monitoring (GEOGLAM) Essential Agricultural Variables Working Group. The workshop was hosted by USDA BARC and held at the National Agricultural Library in Beltsville, Maryland from Sept. 12 to 14, 2023.
The workshop provided a very productive forum to gather numerous international experts from the fields of cropland and crop type mapping and map validation. A summary report from the workshop can be viewed here.
