Land cover

"Indicates the physical land type such as forest or open water whereas land use documents how people are using the land. Land cover can be determined by analyzing satellite and aerial imagery. Land use cannot be determined from satellite imagery. Land cover maps provide information to help managers best understand the current landscape. To see change over time, land cover maps for several different years are needed. With this information, managers can evaluate past management decisions as well as gain insight into the possible effects of their current decisions before they are implemented." (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2019)

Sources

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). What is the difference between land cover and land use? Accessed March 13, 2019. Available at: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/lclu.html

Related Content

Article

Monitoring runoff using Earth observation data

When rain falls on Earth, the water starts moving and flowing downhill through sewers and rivers as runoff. Runoff is extremely important to recharge surface water bodies and groundwater. Furthermore, runoff changes the landscape by action of erosion. It is an integral part of the water cycle (Earth Science Data Systems 2021).

Monitoreando la escorrentía mediante datos de observación de la Tierra

Translated by Isabel Zetina

Cuando la lluvia cae sobre la Tierra, el agua empieza a moverse y a fluir cuesta abajo a través de alcantarillas y ríos en forma de escorrentía. La escorrentía es extremadamente importante para recargar las masas de agua de la superficie y las aguas subterráneas. Además, la escorrentía modifica el paisaje por acción de la erosión. Es una parte integral del ciclo del agua (Earth Science Data Systems 2021).

Wetlands conservation: How satellite observation supports sustainable wetland management

Pelicans in the Danube Delta, Photo by Florin Tomozei.

On 2 February 2020, we celebrate World Wetlands Day to raise global awareness about the vital role of wetlands for people and our planet. This year’s edition highlights the connection between water, wetlands, and life.

Conservación de humedales: cómo la observación por satélite apoya la gestión sostenible de los humedales

Translated by: Isabel Zetina

El 2 de febrero de 2020 celebramos el Día Mundial de los Humedales para concienciar al mundo sobre el papel vital de los humedales para las personas y nuestro planeta. La edición de este año destaca la conexión entre el agua, los humedales y la vida.

Monitoring River Delta Using Remote Sensing

Since ancient times, people have established communities in river deltas because it provides water, fertile land, and transportation access, making them an ideal place to live. This pattern has been carried forward to the present. With nearly 6 billion people living in river deltas, they are one of the most densely populated places on Earth (Kuenzer and Renaud, 2011). However, they are facing threats such as climate change, sea level rise, land use changes, and ecosystem degradation.

Launch of Zimbabwe's first Satellite ZIMSAT - 1

What began as the development of a cubesat (BIRD-5) at the Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan took off on a spacecraft to the International Space Station from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, US on 6 November 2022 (watch the video of the launch of the CRS2 NG-18 (Cygnus) Mission (Antares), in the video below the article).

9th International Conference on Remote Sensing and Geoinformation of Environment (RSCy2023)

The 9th International Conference on Remote Sensing and Geoinformation of Environment or RSCy2023 will be held in Cyprus on 3-5 April, 2023.

The RSCy2023 is organized by the Cyprus Remote Sensing Society in cooperation with ESA, NASA, Copernicus, DLR, Group On Earth Observations, the Department of Electronic Communications of the Ministry of Communications and Works, the Technical Chamber of Cyprus, the Cyprus Department of Meteorology and the Agricultural Research Institute.

The conference is published by SPIE.

2022 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium - IGARSS 2022

The International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) is the flagship conference of the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society (GRSS). It is aimed at providing a platform for sharing knowledge and experience on recent developments and advancements in geoscience and remote sensing technologies, particularly in the context of earth observation, disaster monitoring and risk assessment.

13th ESA Training Course on Earth Observation

The purpose of this training course is to train the next generation of Earth Observation scientists in Croatia and beyond.
This training course is organized jointly by the European Space Agency (ESA), Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Information Technology Osijek (FERIT), Croatia and Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia (MZO).

The course will be hosted in-person in Osijek, Croatia, from September 18-22, 2023.

World Climate Research Programme Open Science Conference 2023

The World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Open Science Conference, focusing on “Advancing climate science for a sustainable future”, will be held in Kigali, Rwanda, and online on 23-27 October 2023, with the major goal of bridging science and society.

43rd International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium 2023

The International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) is the world’s premier symposium on geoscience, remote sensing and related topics. The 43rd annual IGARSS is going be to held in person with the theme of “Reconnecting” with our peers and community. This is an ideal forum for obtaining up-to-date information about the latest developments, exchanging ideas, identifying future trends and making networking with the international geoscience and remote sensing community.

Open-Earth-Monitor Global Workshop 2023

Open-Earth-Monitor project’s main aim is to directly support the implementation of the European Green Deal, and the European Digital Transition, the EuroGEO (Europe’s part of the Group on Earth Observations) and overall the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). How? By producing and integrating a range of open-source, data-based and user-friendly tools to monitor European and global environmental trends, and for ecosystem services accounting in constant collaboration with user communities.

International Conference on Earth Observation and Geo-spatial Information 2023

The first edition of the IEEE International Conference on Earth Observation and Geo-spatial Information (ICEOGI) 2023 is co-organized by the LTIR Laboratory of the University of Sciences and Technology Houari Boumediene (USTHB), Algiers and the LITIO Laboratory of the University of Oran 1 Ahmed Ben Bella (UORAN1), Oran.

Local Perspectives Case Studies

Lacking historic knowledge on vegetation cover and surface water extent / river course

Long view of Ngakoahia Stream and surrounding vegetation

The Māori community has Ngakoaohia River running through the customary lands and currently there are no records or knowledge of the river, so the community is not able to use it for any particular function. There is lack of understanding historical land use and land cover surrounding the river. Historical data is essential for understanding where things were planted or where was vegetation in order to be able to decide what plant are suitable for our location. So, the planting will help with the land, stabilising the riverbanks and help with plant life as well. We must work in unity with our environment, so historical data will help not to make ill informed decisions that will be detrimental to the environment.

The effects of land use and land cover changes on water use and management

A person standing in front of a small water dam

We do not have long term studies on how land-use and water sources have changed within the Ëyuujk community. There is less water in my community but is not a dire situation as yet and we do not want to get to a point where there is no more water because we are destroying the forest, or we are not valuing the natural resources before it is too late. We would like to make a historical reconstruction on how the land cover was before and to predict the river levels or water that remains available in some of the sources. This can be linked with a geographic study too because a lot of these sources have a meaning for religious purposes in the community.

Remote Sensing, GIS and Climatic Research Lab, University of the Punjab

The emerging demand of GIS and Space Applications for Climate Change studies for the socio-economic development of Pakistan along with Government of Pakistan Vision 2025, Space Vision 2047 of National Space Agency of Pakistan, and achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) impelled the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) to establish Remote Sensing, GIS and Climatic Research Lab (RSGCRL) at University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.

Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission

Realizing the importance of Space Science and Technology applications for sustainable national development, the Government of Pakistan established Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission. Being the National Space Agency of Pakistan, SUPARCO is mandated to conduct research and development work in the field of space science, technology and its applications for peaceful purposes and socio-economic uplift of country. Its headquarter is located at Islamabad and technical facilities are spread over Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Quetta, Peshawar and Gilgit.

Huang

Jiayun Huang

Intern United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs

Jiayun Huang was a master student at Imperial College London, specializing in ecological applications. She holds a bachelor's degree in Environmental Science. Her research includes a wide range of topics related to environmental monitoring, evaluation, and management using remote sensing technology. She has undergone professional training in field investigations and laboratory operations, and is able to integrate them with remote sensing technology in the research projects.

Software/Tool/(Web-)App

LandMonitoring.Earth

At the occasion of the ‘European Land Monitoring at its crossroads’ conference held in Innsbruck, Austria, in October 2018, GeoVille has released an update of the LandMonitoring.Earth public portal.

Earth Observation Data Analysis Library

Imagery from Earth observing (EO) satellites combined with environmental data about climate, topography and soils holds great potential to advance our knowledge about the dynamics of our planet. Still, the handling and analysis of these data sources is cumbersome and presents a high barrier to entry leaving the potential of EO data underexploited.