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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 ResolutionSpatial CoverageTemporal ResolutionTemporal CoverageSpectral ResolutionSatellite/
Platform		Sensor(s)/ Model NameObservation or ModelFile Format
500 mGlobal1-2 days2001-202136 bands ranging from 0.4 µm to 14.4 µmTerra and AquaMODISObservationHDF-EOS
30 m, 90 m, 1 kmRegional datasetsMulti-year2007-2016
(varies)		VariesDerived from Landsat dataGFSADObservationGeoTIFF
30 mGlobalYearly2001-2019VariesDerived from Landsat dataGLanCEObservationGeoTIFF

Land Use/Land Cover Datasets

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Dataset Version Platforms Instruments Temporal Extent Spatial Extent Spatial Resolution Data Format
ABoVE: Burn Severity, Fire Progression, and Field Data, NWT, Canada, 2015-2016 1 FIELD SURVEYS, Aqua, Terra SOIL TEMPERATURE PROBE, SOIL MOISTURE PROBE, MODIS 2015-05-20 to 2016-08-08

N: 68.327 S: 59.927 E: -106.759 W: -135.543

CSV
ABoVE: Burn Severity, Fire Progression, Landcover and Field Data, NWT, Canada, 2014 1 Terra, FIELD SURVEYS, Aqua MODIS, SOIL MOISTURE PROBE, SOIL TEMPERATURE PROBE 1997-07-07 to 2015-07-15

N: 64.2509 S: 60.3334 E: -110.677 W: -121.604

multiple
ABoVE: Distribution Maps of Wildland Fire Fuel Components across Alaskan Tundra, 2015 1 LANDSAT-8 OLI 2013-01-01 to 2017-12-31

N: 72.5229 S: 57.3911 E: -132.487 W: -170.006

GeoTIFF
ABoVE: Ecosystem Map, Great Slave Lake Area, Northwest Territories, Canada, 1997-2011 1 MODELS, LANDSAT-5, WORLDVIEW-2, ALOS Computer, MSS, TM, WV110, PALSAR 1997-09-25 to 2011-09-14

N: 65.1494 S: 58.5141 E: -109.463 W: -123.036

multiple
ABoVE: Gridded 30-m Aboveground Biomass, Shrub Dominance, North Slope, AK, 2007-2016 1 LANDSAT-5, MODELS, FIELD SURVEYS, LANDSAT-7 TM, Computer, STEEL MEASURING TAPE, ETM+ 2007-06-01 to 2016-08-31

N: 76.226 S: 64.7265 E: -111.551 W: -168.576

multiple
ABoVE: Lake and Wetland Classification from L-band SAR, Alaska and Canada, 2017-2019 1 FIELD SURVEYS, UAV CAMERA, UAVSAR 2017-01-01 to 2019-09-19

N: 67.909 S: 53.707 E: -107.864 W: -149.165

multiple
ABoVE: Land Cover, Methane Flux, and Environmental Data, Big Trail Lake, Fairbanks AK 1 MODELS, FIELD INVESTIGATION Computer, SOIL MOISTURE PROBE 2017-05-28 to 2022-08-23

N: 64.9231 S: 64.9201 E: -147.816 W: -147.825

multiple
ABoVE: Landsat Tundra Greenness and Summer Air Temperatures, Arctic Tundra, 1985-2016 1 LANDSAT-5, LANDSAT-7, LANDSAT-8 TM, ETM+, OLI 1985-07-01 to 2016-08-31

N: 90 S: 31.49 E: 180 W: -180

multiple
ABoVE: Landsat Vegetation Greenness Trends, Boreal Forest Biome, 1985-2019 1 LANDSAT-5, LANDSAT-7, LANDSAT-8 TM, ETM+, OLI, TIRS 1985-01-01 to 2019-12-31

N: 72 S: 45 E: 180 W: -180

multiple
ABoVE: Landsat-derived Annual Disturbance Agents Across ABoVE Core Domain, 1987-2012 1 LANDSAT, LANDSAT-5 ETM+, TM 1985-01-01 to 2012-12-31

N: 75.6853 S: 50.259 E: -98.974 W: -169.96

multiple
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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.
Learn More About Sentinel-1
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.

Land Use/Land Cover Data Tools

View All Data Tools
Tool 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
Worldview Worldview offers the capability to interactively browse over 1,200 global, full-resolution satellite imagery layers and download the underlying data. Analysis, Search and Discovery, Visualization, Access, Comparison, Monitoring Natural Events
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