Global 10-Meter Resolution Land Cover Map for 2020

2020 global land cover map provides 11 distinct land cover classes. It offers worldwide coverage at a 10-meter spatial resolution, organized into 3 x 3 degree tiles. The product was created by a consortium led by VITO, including Brockmann Consult, CS SI, Gamma Remote Sensing, IIASA, and Wageningen University.

Use Cases

• Train semantic segmentation models to classify the 11 land cover classes from 10-meter resolution imagery.
• Analyze land cover change by comparing the 2020 map layers with other temporal datasets.
• Validate or downscale coarser land cover products using the high-resolution 10-meter tile data.
• Model habitat distribution or fragmentation using the forest, grassland, and wetland class layers.
• Assess urban expansion and agricultural land use from the built-up and cropland class features.

Strengths

• Global spatial coverage across all land areas.
• High 10-meter spatial resolution for detailed analysis.
• Standardized 11-class land cover classification scheme.
• Data provided as Cloud Optimized GeoTIFFs for efficient access.

Limitations

• Ocean areas and inner ice sheets are excluded and have no tiles.
• Single reference year (2020) limits temporal trend analysis without other years.
• Class accuracy may vary regionally and is not quantified in the description.

Provenance

Source

European Space Agency (ESA) consortium led by VITO.

Collection Method

Produced from satellite remote sensing data.

Time Range

2020

Freshness

null

Geography

Global land coverage.