The United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) developed a comprehensive Land Cover Classification System (LCCS).
The Copernicus Global Land Service (CGLS) uses only a subset of the UN LCCS. The used classes are explained in the following table. The values in the column Map Code represent the value used for the given class in the CGLS GeoTIFF.
| Map Code | Land Cover Class | Definition according UN LCCS (UN LCCS Level) |
|---|---|---|
| 111 | closed forest, evergreen needle leaf | Tree canopy >70 %, almost all needle leaf trees remain green all year. Canopy is never without green foliage. (A12A3A10B2D2E1) |
| 113 | closed forest, deciduous needle leaf | Tree canopy >70 %, consists of seasonal needle leaf tree communities with an annual cycle of leaf-on and leaf-off periods. (A12A3A10B2D2E2) |
| 112 | closed forest, evergreen, broad leaf | Tree canopy >70 %, almost all broadleaf trees remain green year round. Canopy is never without green foliage. (A12A3A10B2D1E1) |
| 114 | closed forest, deciduous broad leaf | Tree canopy >70 %, consists of seasonal broadleaf tree communities with an annual cycle of leaf-on and leaf-off periods. (A12A3A10B2D1E2) |
| 115 | closed forest, mixed | Closed forest, mix of types. (A12A3A10) |
| 116 | closed forest, unknown | Closed forest, not matching any of the other definitions. (A12A3A10) |
| 121 | open forest, evergreen needle leaf | Top-layer trees 15-70 % and second layer mixed of shrubs and grassland, almost all needle leaf trees remain green all year. Canopy is never without green foliage. (A12A3A11B2D2E1) |
| 123 | open forest, deciduous needle leaf | Top-layer trees 15-70 % and second layer mixed of shrubs and grassland, consists of seasonal needle leaf tree communities with an annual cycle of leaf-on and leaf-off periods. (A12A3A11B2D2E2) |
| 122 | open forest, evergreen broad leaf | Top-layer trees 15-70 % and second layer mixed of shrubs and grassland, almost all broadleaf trees remain green year round. Canopy is never without green foliage. (A12A3A11B2D1E1) |
| 124 | open forest, deciduous broad leaf | Top-layer trees 15-70 % and second layer mixed of shrubs and grassland, consists of seasonal broadleaf tree communities with an annual cycle of leaf-on and leaf-off periods. (A12A3A11B2D1E2) |
| 125 | open forest, mixed | Open forest, mix of types. (A12A3A12) |
| 126 | open forest, unknown | Open forest, not matching any of the other definitions. (A12A3A12) |
| 20 | shrubs | These are woody perennial plants with persistent and woody stems and without any defined main stem being less than 5 m tall. The shrub foliage can be either evergreen or deciduous. (A12A4A20B3(B9)) |
| 30 | herbaceous vegetation | Plants without persistent stem or shoots above ground and lacking definite firm structure. Tree and shrub cover is less than 10 %. (A12A2(A6)A20B4) |
| 90 | herbaceous wetland | Lands with a permanent mixture of water and herbaceous or woody vegetation. The vegetation can be present in either salt, brackish, or fresh water. (A24A2A20) |
| 100 | moss and lichen | Moss and lichen. (A12A7) |
| 60 | bare/sparse vegetation | Land with exposed soil, sand, or rocks and never has more than 10 % vegetated cover during any time of the year. (B16A1(A2)) |
| 40 | cultivated and managed vegetation/agriculture (cropland) | Land covered with temporary crops followed by harvest and a bare soil period (e.g., single and multiple cropping systems). Note that perennial woody crops will be classified as the appropriate forest or shrub land cover type. (A11A3) |
| 50 | urban/built-up | Land covered by buildings and other man-made structures. (B15A1) |
| 70 | snow and ice | Land under snow or ice cover throughout the year. (B28A2(A3)) |
| 80 | permanent water bodies | Lakes, reservoirs, and rivers. Can be either fresh or salt-water bodies. (B28A1B1) |
| 200 | open sea | Oceans, seas. Can be either fresh or salt-water bodies. (B28A1B1) |
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Page created: 2020-11-12
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