European Forest Disturbance Maps from Landsat, 1986-2020

1986-2020 annual maps of forest disturbances across 35 European countries derived from Landsat satellite data. The dataset includes a forest mask and a map of disturbance severity up to 2016, created by researchers at the Technical University of Munich. The maps are available as geoTIFFs in the ETRS89 / LAEA Europe coordinate system and are updated annually.

Use Cases

• Modeling forest disturbance regimes based on annual disturbance maps
• Analyzing trends in forest health and recovery based on disturbance severity data
• Mapping forest cover and change over time using the provided forest mask
• Assessing the impact of climate events on European forests based on the 35-year time series

Strengths

• Covers 35 European countries, providing a continental-scale perspective
• Spans 35 years (1986-2020), enabling long-term trend analysis
• Includes a disturbance severity layer for the period up to 2016
• Maps are updated annually, suggesting ongoing maintenance

Limitations

• Disturbance severity data is not available for the most recent years (only until 2016)
• Known false disturbances are mapped in Norway in 2020, and SLC-off artefacts are present in northern Serbia
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download

Provenance

Source

Technical University of Munich

Collection Method

Derived from Landsat satellite data, with methodological details explained in Senf and Seidl 2021.

Time Range

1986-2020

Freshness

Updated annually.

Geography

35 European countries