Has EO found its customers? Results of GLC2000 Legend Workshop November 2000 JRC / Ispra

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Results of GLC2000 Legend WorkshopNovember 2000

JRC / Ispra

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Conclusions GLC2000 Legend Workshop

Land cover information is required

• assessment of land resources• forest inventories• hydrological models• vegetation - atmosphere interaction models

a) for different purposes b) at different geographical (management and planning ) levels

thematic information range •from few land cover classes (forest / non-forest) •to large number of classes•from few discrete classes•to a continuous range of values

• global• regional• sub-regional• local

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Objective of the GLC2000 project at global level: to map the distribution and the extent of main land cover classes

different information needs at global level- the legend should take this into account

Data set should provide a baseline• for assessment & monitoring land cover change in a global context• input for global climate modeling• reference data for the implementation of international conventions

• uniform and consistent data set• comparable across regions and countries• defined reference year: 2000• compatibility to IGPB classes


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• need to address the regional and sub-regional levelfor monitoring specific processes: deforestation, desertification, ..

• link GLC2000 data set to the national level where possiblee.g. number of large less developed countries with outdated national databases where the GLC2000 could provide baseline information on land and vegetation cover

• information content of VGT data allows to go further than global level depending on specific regions and specific application

• network of regional partners •ancillary regional data and knowledge•not limit regional application by using a global legend

GLC2000 aims also at regional and sub-regional level in order to address a broader range of applications


legend should provide satisfying detail at the regional and sub- regional level

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Predefined legend• linked to defined purpose & limited value for other applications• forces the user to squeeze the vegetation types into a predefined scheme

Questions raised:

how to achieve a homogenous classification of land cover at the global level which offers sufficient detail and link possibilities to the regional and sub-regional level?

few global land cover classes or many regional classes?

predefined legend or flexible classification system?


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Limited number of broad global land cover classes:

• limit possibilities of describing vegetation at regional level

• limit the range of possible applications

Large number of detailed regional land cover classes:

• globally > big number of slightly different classes

• risk of overlap if not well defined (open forests - woodland, grassland - steppe)

• difficulty of handling and interpreting a large number of classes

• risk of incompatibility of classes when grouping at global level


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Problem of ‘class names’

a ) different regional use of class names b ) different understanding in how to interpret specific classes

incompatibility between regions or data sets

• ‘forest’ (IGBP): > 60% of tree covermany of the Siberian forests with tree cover less than 60% would not be called ‘forest’ - does not correspond to regional understanding of forest

• ‘forest’ (FAO): > 10% of tree cover what is the information content of the class finally?

• South American ‘Pampas’ to ‘Steppe, Savannah or Grassland’?


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Decision for • a flexible classification system instead of a fixed predefined legend• partners use the FAO LCCS software for generating their regional classes and legend

each land cover class is described by•specifying a series of classifiers

life form (trees, shrubs, herbaceous), cover,leaf type, phenology•adding environmental attributes

climate, altitude•adding (optional) specific attributes

crop type, species information

• no predefined class names• each user would generate the regional classes and legend to the detail possible, using also ancillary data• compatibility at higher level and the final legend > by grouping of selected classifiers


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LCCS principle

Classifier 1:Life form

Classifier 2Cover %

Classifier 3Seasonality

Classifier 4Height

Attribute:agricultural impact

Class 1 regional class->‘Forest’ (A3A10E1B5)Trees A3 > 60% A10 evergreen E1 > 15 meters B5

Class 2 regional class->‘Woodland’ (A3A12E4/A4A13E4)Trees A3 40-60% A12 deciduous E4 Agriculture impactShrubs A4 15-40% A13 deciduous E4

Class 3 regional class -> ‘Shrub Savannah’Shrubs > 15% cover Agriculture impactGrass >65% cover

Class 4 regional class -> ‘Grass Savannah’Grass >65% cover

Class 5 regional class -> ‘Pseudo-Steppe’Trees 0-15%Grass 15-40%

Class 6 regional class -> ‘Steppe’Grass 15-40%

Class 7 regional class -> ‘Mosaic Cropland and Forest’Cropland 0-15%Trees 15-40%

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Building different classes or legends by combining classifiers and attributes

Classifier 1 Classifier 2 Classifier 3 Classifier 4 Attribute

‘Class 1’ regional class->‘Forest’Trees A3 > 60% cover A10 evergreen > 15 meters

‘Class 2’ regional class->‘Woodland’Trees A3 40-60% cov. A12 deciduous agriculture impactShrubs 15-40% cover deciduous

‘Class 3’Shrubs > 15% cover agriculture impactGrass >65% cover

‘Class 4’Grass >65% cover

‘Class 5’Trees 0-15%Grass 15-40%

‘Class 6’Grass 15-40%

‘Class 7’Croplandtrees 15-40%

Building a legend with ‘forest’ > 40% tree cover - ( = FAO ‘dense forest’)

Forest > 40%

A3, (A10 or A12)

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Building different classes or legends by combining classifiers and attributes

Classifier 1 Classifier 2 Classifier 3 Classifier 4 Attribute

‘Class 1’Trees A3 > 60% cover evergreen > 15 meters

‘Class 2’Trees A3 40-60% cover deciduous agriculture impactShrubs A4 15-40% cover deciduous

‘Class 3’Shrubs A4 > 15% cover agriculture impactGrass >65% cover

‘Class 4’Grass >65% cover

‘Class 5’Trees A3 0-15%Grass 15-40%

‘Class 6’Grass 15-40%

‘Class 7’CroplandTrees A3 15-40%

Building a legend with ‘vegetation cover with woody component’

Woody vegetation

A3 or A4

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• classification of land cover can be done at different geographical level at different detail, depending on the information available:

•regional subclasses •adding regional species information to a global forest class

•final legend can be built at a later stage by grouping of significant classifiers and attributes (according to a specific purpose)

Advantages

• improved possibilities to harmonize classifications between regions

• improved compatibility to existing data sets (>monitoring capabilities)

• contribution to standardizing land cover classification


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Pre-requisite:

• minimum set of common classifiers and attributes has to be used by the participants in order to be able to build a globally compatible legend

• FAO LCCS classifier thresholds to be accepted

• establish an ‘e-mail discussion and monitoring forum’ where participants would report the classes and legends they are establishing

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based on SPOT VGT added ancillary data based SPOT VGT or ancillary data

Example of LCCS appearance and on-screen

I. Starting from 8 major land cover types (dichotomous phase)

II. Hierarchical phase of pre-defined land cover classifiers

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No further classifiers obligatory as ‘minimum’(agricultural cropland)

Minimum set of classifiers for GLC2000 global classes

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ers? Life form Cover Spatial

DistributionLeaf type

PhenologyLayering

Woody closed-open

Trees closed-open closed open

continuous fragmented

broadleaved needleleaved evergreen deciduous

Shrubs closed-open closed open


Herbaceous closed-open no (more) layer sparse shrubs sparse trees

Lichens &Mosses

1


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Life form Cover SpatialDistribution

Leaf typePhenology

Layering

Woody sparse

Trees sparse

Shrubs sparse

Herbaceous sparse

2


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No further classifiers obligatory as ‘minimum’

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Life form Cover WaterSeasonality

Leaf typePhenology

Layering

Woody closed-open

Trees closed-open closed open

>4months 2<months<4


Shrubs closed-open closed open

>4months 2<months<4


Herbaceous closed-open >4months 2<months<4 waterlogged

no (more) layer sparse shrubs sparse trees


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(more information could be derived from ancillary layers)

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Surface aspect

•Consolidated•Bare rock•Hardpan

•Unconsolidated•Bare Soil•Loose and shifting sand


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(more information could be derived from ancillary layers)


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Physical Status

•Water•Snow•Ice


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LCCS output

Documents

Has EO found its customers? Results of GLC2000 Legend Workshop November 2000 JRC / Ispra