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 Data Tools

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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
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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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

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: 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 Datasets

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Dataset	Platforms	Instruments	Temporal Extent	Location Keywords	Spatial Extent	Data Format
Global Soil Profile Data (ISRIC-WISE)	NOT APPLICABLE	NOT APPLICABLE	1950-01-01 to 1995-12-31		N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	multiple
Global Summer Land Surface Temperature (LST) Grids, 2013	MODELS	Computer	2013-01-01 to 2013-12-31	AFRICA, ASIA, AUSTRALIA, EUROPE, NORTH AMERICA	N: 80.01 S: -60.01 E: 179.99 W: -180	GeoTIFF, PDF, PNG, WMS
Global Urban Heat Island (UHI) Data Set, 2013	MODELS	Computer	2013-01-01 to 2013-12-31	AFRICA, ASIA, AUSTRALIA, EUROPE, NORTH AMERICA	N: 78.28 S: -54.86 E: 179.46 W: -176.2	Excel, Shapefile, PDF, PNG, WMS
Global Vegetation Greenness (NDVI) from AVHRR GIMMS-3G+, 1981-2022	NOAA POES, METOP-A, METOP-B, METOP-C	AVHRR	1982-01-01 to 2022-12-31	GLOBAL LAND	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	netCDF-4 classic
GPM Ground Validation Airborne Snow Observatory (ASO) OLYMPEX V1	UND CITATION II	LIDAR, VISIBLE SPECTROMETER	2014-09-04 to 2016-03-30	WASHINGTON	N: 48.0909 S: 47.493 E: -123.129 W: -124.185	GeoTIFF
Green Vegetation Fraction High-Resolution Maps for Selected US Tidal Marshes, 2015	Airplane, LANDSAT	CAMERA, ETM+	2013-09-25 to 2015-08-27		N: 47.121 S: 25.0847 E: -69.9266 W: -122.746	GeoTIFF
Greenness Trends and Carbon Stocks of Mangrove Forests Across Mexico, 2001-2015	Aqua, MODELS	MODIS, Computer	2001-01-01 to 2015-12-31	MEXICO	N: 29.7262 S: 14.4292 E: -86.5302 W: -114.055	multiple
Gridded Population of the World, Version 3 (GPWv3): Land and Geographic Unit Area Grids	MODELS	Computer	1990-07-01, 1995-07-01, 2000-07-01, 2005-07-01, 2010-07-01, 2015-07-01	AFRICA, ASIA, AUSTRALIA, EUROPE, GLOBAL	N: 79.89196 S: -54.751503 E: 179.848323 W: -179.199552	ASCII, BIL, Grid, WMS
Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Data Quality Indicators, Revision 11	MODELS	Computer	2010-07-01	GLOBAL	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	ASCII, GeoTIFF, PDF, PNG, WMS
Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Land and Water Area	MODELS	Computer	2010-07-01	GLOBAL	N: 85 S: -60 E: 180 W: -180	GeoTIFF

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Frequently Asked Questions

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