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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 Platforms Instruments Temporal Extent Location Keywords Spatial Extent Data Format
CMS: Mangrove Forest Cover Extent and Change across Major River Deltas, 2000-2016 LANDSAT-5, LANDSAT-7, LANDSAT-8, Sentinel-1A, STS-99 TM, ETM+, OLI, SENTINEL-1 C-SAR, SRTM 2000-01-01 to 2016-12-31 MOZAMBIQUE, JAMAICA, GABON, EQUATORIAL, TANZANIA N: 22.5041 S: -28.0001 E: 107.027 W: -82.0002 GeoTIFF
CMS: Pinyon-Juniper Forest Live Aboveground Biomass, Great Basin, USA, 2000-2016 MODELS Computer 2000-01-01 to 2016-12-31 IDAHO, NEVADA N: 47.1179 S: 33.9309 E: -109.312 W: -123.896 GeoTIFF
CMS: Vegetative Lifeform Cover from Landsat SR for CONUS, 1984-2018 MODELS, LANDSAT-5, G-LiHT, LANDSAT-7 Computer, TM, LIDAR, ETM+ 1984-01-01 to 2018-12-31 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA N: 50.6625 S: 23.2663 E: -65.0638 W: -126.714 GeoTIFF
CO2 and CH4 Fluxes from Waterbodies, Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, 2016-2019 SATELLITES, FIELD SURVEYS, COMPUTERS Sentinel-2 MSI, SENTINEL-1 C-SAR, WATER BOTTLES, Computer 2016-07-07 to 2019-07-07 ALASKA N: 61.6781 S: 60.895 E: -162.073 W: -163.82 multiple
Dar es Salaam Land Use and Informal Settlement Data Set MODELS Computer 1982-01-01, 1992-01-01, 1998-01-01, 2002-01-01 TANZANIA N: 6.568272 S: -39.073198 E: 39.365646 W: -7.000879 Shapefile, PDF, PNG, WMS
Decadal Land Use and Land Cover Classifications across India, 1985, 1995, 2005 LANDSAT-5, IRS-1B, LANDSAT-4 ETM+, TM, LISS-I, LISS-III, MSS 1985-01-01 to 2005-12-31 INDIA N: 36.3219 S: 6.71167 E: 98.932 W: 66.305 GeoTIFF
Delta-X AVIRIS-NG L3 Derived Vegetation Types, MRD, Louisiana, USA King Air AVIRIS-NG 2021-08-20 to 2021-08-25 LOUISIANA N: 29.707 S: 28.9908 E: -90.3607 W: -91.5945 COG
Development and Evolution of NASA Satellite Remote Sensing for Ecology Publications Computer 1972-01-01 to 2014-12-31 GLOBAL N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 PDF
Disturbance History and Forest Biomass from Landsat for Six US Sites, 1985-2014 FIELD SURVEYS, LANDSAT STEEL MEASURING TAPE, LIDAR 1984-01-01 to 2014-12-31 MAINE, MINNESOTA, PENNSYLVANIA, OREGON, SOUTH CAROLINA N: 48.2886 S: 32.2654 E: -68.4809 W: -123.235 netCDF-4 classic
ECOSTRESS L3/L4 Ancillary data Quality Assurance (QA) flags L3 Global 70m V001 ISS ECOSTRESS 2018-07-15 to 2023-02-25 GLOBAL LAND N: 54 S: -54 E: 180 W: -180 HDF5
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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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