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Land Use/Land Cover Data Access and Tools

NASA data range from global assessments of snow cover albedo to food insecurity cropland extent measurements. Our datasets and tools help researchers translate these interconnected data points into actionable knowledge.

Commonly Used Land Cover/Crop Extent Data at a Glance

Spatial Resolution	Spatial Coverage	Temporal Resolution	Temporal Coverage	Spectral Resolution	Satellite/ Platform	Sensor(s)/ Model Name	Observation or Model	File Format
500 m	Global	1-2 days	2001-2021	36 bands ranging from 0.4 µm to 14.4 µm	Terra and Aqua	MODIS	Observation	HDF-EOS
30 m, 90 m, 1 km	Regional datasets	Multi-year	2007-2016 (varies)	Varies	Derived from Landsat data	GFSAD	Observation	GeoTIFF
30 m	Global	Yearly	2001-2019	Varies	Derived from Landsat data	GLanCE	Observation	GeoTIFF

Land Use/Land Cover Datasets

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Filters

Dataset Sort descending	Version	Platform	Instrument	Temporal Extent	Spatial Extent	Spatial Resolution	Data Format
ECOSTRESS L3/L4 Ancillary data Quality Assurance (QA) flags L3 Global 70m V001	001	ISS	ECOSTRESS	2018-07-15 to 2023-02-25	N: 54 S: -54 E: 180 W: -180	70 Meters x 70 Meters	HDF5
ECOSTRESS Tiled Ancillary NDVI and Albedo L2 Global 70 m V002	002	ISS, SUOMI-NPP, Sentinel-2A, Sentinel-2B, LANDSAT-8, LANDSAT-9	ECOSTRESS, VIIRS, Sentinel-2 MSI, OLI	2018-07-09 to Present	N: 54 S: -54 E: 180 W: -180	70 Meters x 70 Meters	COG
ECOSTRESS Tiled Ancillary NDVI and Albedo L2 Global 70 m V003	003	ISS, Suomi-NPP, Sentinel-2A, Sentinel-2B, LANDSAT-8, LANDSAT-9	ECOSTRESS, VIIRS, Sentinel-2 MSI, OLI	2018-07-09 to Present	N: 54 S: -54 E: 180 W: -180	70 Meters x 70 Meters	COG
Ecosystem Demography Model: U.S. Ecosystem Carbon Stocks and Fluxes, 1700-1990	1	NOT APPLICABLE	NOT APPLICABLE	1700-01-01 to 1990-12-31	N: 52 S: 21.5 E: -30.5 W: -164.5		multiple
EMIT L2B Fractional Cover and Uncertainty 60 m V001	001	ISS	EMIT Imaging Spectrometer	2022-08-09 to Present	N: 54 S: -54 E: 180 W: -180	60 Meters x 60 Meters	COG
FLUXNET Research Network Site Characteristics, Investigators, and Bibliography, 2016	1	GROUND STATIONS, GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	ANEMOMETERS, RAIN GAUGES, THERMOMETERS	1991-01-01 to 2016-12-31	N: 78.921 S: -62.2321 E: 175.554 W: -157.409		CSV
Geoecology: County-Level Environmental Data for the United States, 1941-1981	1	COMPUTERS	Computer	1941-01-01 to 1981-12-31	N: 49.3844 S: 24.4981 E: -66.9499 W: -124.763		Text File
Global 1-km Downscaled Urban Land Extent Projection and Base Year Grids by SSP Scenarios, 2000-2100	1.00	MODELS	Computer	2000-01-01 to 2100-12-31	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	0.008333 Decimal Degrees x 0.008333 Decimal Degrees	GeoTIFF, netCDF-4
Global Fire Emissions Indicators, Country-Level Tabular Data: 1997-2015	1.0	MODELS	Computer	1997-01-01 to 2015-12-31	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		Excel
Global Fire Emissions Indicators, Grids: 1997-2015	1.0	MODELS	Computer	1997-01-01 to 2015-12-31	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	30 Decimal Degrees x 30 Decimal Degrees	GeoTIFF, PDF, PNG, WMS
Global Food Security-support Analysis Data (GFSAD) Cropland Extent 2010 North America product 30 m V001	001	LANDSAT-7, DEM, LANDSAT-5	ETM+, TM	2008-01-01 to 2015-12-31	N: 90 S: -0.001078 E: 1.928773 W: -180	30 Meters x 30 Meters	GeoTIFF
Global Food Security-support Analysis Data (GFSAD) Cropland Extent 2015 Africa 30 m V001	001	LANDSAT-8, Sentinel-2A, DEM, LANDSAT-5	OLI, Sentinel-2 MSI, TM	2013-01-01 to 2016-06-30	N: 40.10861 S: -50.108476 E: 70.001218 W: -37	30 Meters x 30 Meters	GeoTIFF
Global Food Security-support Analysis Data (GFSAD) Cropland Extent 2015 Australia, New Zealand, China, Mongolia 30 m V001	001	LANDSAT-8, LANDSAT-7, DEM, LANDSAT-5	OLI, ETM+, TM	2013-01-01 to 2016-12-31	N: 60.095406 S: -62 E: 180 W: 60	30 Meters x 30 Meters	GeoTIFF
Global Food Security-support Analysis Data (GFSAD) Cropland Extent 2015 Europe, Central Asia, Russia, Middle East product 30 m V001	001	LANDSAT-8, LANDSAT-7, DEM, LANDSAT-5	OLI, ETM+, TM	2013-01-01 to 2016-12-31	N: 90 S: 0 E: 180 W: -180	30 Meters x 30 Meters	GeoTIFF
Global Food Security-support Analysis Data (GFSAD) Cropland Extent 2015 South America product 30 m V001	001	LANDSAT-8, LANDSAT-7, DEM, LANDSAT-5	OLI, ETM+, TM	2013-01-01 to 2016-12-31	N: 15 S: -60 E: -20 W: -110	30 Meters x 30 Meters	GeoTIFF
Global Food Security-support Analysis Data (GFSAD) Cropland Extent 2015 South Asia, Afghanistan, and Iran product 30 m V001	001	LANDSAT-8, LANDSAT-7, DEM, LANDSAT-5	OLI, ETM+, TM	2013-01-01 to 2016-06-30	N: 40.10861 S: -10.038404 E: 100.001086 W: 39.998656	30 Meters x 30 Meters	GeoTIFF
Global Food Security-support Analysis Data (GFSAD) Cropland Extent 2015 Southeast and Northeast Asia product 30 m V001	001	LANDSAT-8, LANDSAT-7, DEM	OLI, ETM+	2013-01-01 to 2016-12-31	N: 60 S: -45 E: 180 W: 70	30 Meters x 30 Meters	GeoTIFF
Global Food Security-support Analysis Data (GFSAD) Cropland Extent-Product 2015 Validation 30 m V001	001	LANDSAT-8, LANDSAT-7, LANDSAT-5, Sentinel-2A	OLI, ETM+, TM, Sentinel-2 MSI	2008-01-01 to 2016-12-31	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	90 Meters x 90 Meters	Shapefile
Global Mangrove Loss Extent, Land Cover Change, and Loss Drivers, 2000-2016	1	LANDSAT-7, LANDSAT-8, COMPUTERS, LANDSAT-5	ETM+, OLI, Computer, TM	2000-01-01 to 2016-12-31	N: 27.0432 S: -58.4496 E: 164.691 W: -94.5607		multiple
Global Man-made Impervious Surface (GMIS) Dataset From Landsat	1.0	MODELS, LANDSAT	Computer, TM, ETM+	2010-01-01 to 2010-12-31	N: 82.78837 S: -58.349605 E: 180 W: -180		GeoTIFF, PDF, PNG, WMS
Global Monthly GPP from an Improved Light Use Efficiency Model, 1982-2016	1	METEOROLOGICAL STATIONS, MODELS	EDDY CORRELATION DEVICES, MMS, Computer	1982-01-01 to 2017-01-01	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		netCDF-4 classic
Global One-Eighth Degree Urban Land Extent Projection and Base Year Grids by SSP Scenarios, 2000-2100	1.00	MODELS	Computer	2000-01-01 to 2100-12-31	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		GeoTIFF, Grid, netCDF-4
Global Reservoir and Dam Database, Version 1 (GRanDv1): Dams, Revision 01	1.01	MODELS	Computer	2011-01-01 to 2011-12-31	N: 70.4 S: -45.88 E: 176.82 W: -153.03		Shapefile, PDF, PNG, WMS
Global Reservoir and Dam Database, Version 1 (GRanDv1): Reservoirs, Revision 01	1.01	MODELS	Computer	2011-01-01 to 2011-12-31	N: 70.4 S: -45.88 E: 176.83 W: -153.04		Shapefile, PDF, PNG, WMS
Global Rural-Urban Mapping Project, Version 1 (GRUMPv1): Land and Geographic Unit Area Grids	1.00	MODELS	Computer	2000-07-01	N: 85 S: -58 E: 180 W: -180	0.00833 Decimal Degrees x 0.00833 Decimal Degrees	ASCII, Grid, PDF, PNG, WMS

Featured Land Use/Land Cover Observation Method: Sentinel-1

Sentinel-1 is a European Space Agency (ESA) satellites designed to acquire Earth-observation measurements and carries a C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to provide all-weather, day-and-night imagery of Earth's surface. The platform was launched on April 3, 2014, and images Earth every six days. Sentinel-1 SAR data can reveal the surface roughness of the land, oil and vegetation moisture content, and vegetation density. The dadar data can also be used to determine water surface conditions such as waviness and identify water inundation into inland areas and beneath forest canopies.

Earthdata graphic identifier on top of image of Earth

Sentinel-1 Images Reveal Changes in the Earth’s Surface Over One Year

NASA's ASF DAAC released the Global Seasonal Sentinel-1 Interferometric Coherence and Backscatter Dataset.

HLS data near Columbus, Nebraska from 2022

HLS: Two Together Better than Two Apart

The purpose of the Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 (HLS) project led by IMPACT, is to combine two or more data streams into a single data set and increase their value.

Automatically Generate a Radiometrically Terrain-Corrected Sentinel-1 Image Using Cloud Computing

Learn how to use the CloudFormation Template to automate the processing of Sentinel-1 radiometrically terrain-corrected (RTC) products.

The rectangular image is a map of the St. Simons Island area of coastal Georgia. Land is colored white, roadways are black, inundated vegetation area are green, and water is colored blue. The Atlantic Ocean is in the lower-right of the image and its blue shaded area extends into waterways along the coast.

New Product Provides Detailed Maps of Water In and Around Landmasses

Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data are used to create maps of surface water extent for research, planning, and disaster response.

Land Use/Land Cover Data Tools

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Items

Tool Sort descending	Description	Services
RTC Stack Processor	The radiometric terrain correction (RTC) stack processor tool facilitates time-series analysis of such phenomena as flooding events, deforestation, or glacier retreat.	Analysis, Processing, Search and Discovery, Visualization
VEDA	NASA's Visualization, Exploration, and Data Analysis (VEDA) project is an open-source science cyberinfrastructure for data processing, visualization, exploration, and geographic information systems (GIS) capabilities.	Access, Analysis, Processing, Visualization, Geoprocessing
Vertex	Vertex is a graphical search interface for finding synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data.	Search and Discovery, Access, Downloading, Processing, Subsetting

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