GLOBCOVER : A 300 M Global Land Cover Product for 2005 using ENVISAT MERIS time series

Abstract

The objective of the ESA-GLOBCOVER initiative is to develop a service which in its first instance will produce a 300 m global land-cover map for the years 2005-2006, using its main source FRS (full resolution (300m) full swath) data acquired over the full year 2005-2006 by the MERIS sensor on-board ENVISAT. The overall system contains 3 pillars: pre-processing, classification and production. The pre-processing includes the following steps: geometric correction, cloud screening, atmospheric correction, angular correction The land cover classification aims at the transformation of the surface reflectances into a validated global land cover product. A global stratification was completed to split the world into equal-reasoning regions from bioclimatic, ecological and satellite observation conditions points of view. This is the cornerstone for the regional tuning applied for all the consecutive classification steps as each region will be processed separately and mosaic into a single file afterwards. Then, the labelling step will merge and transform the spectro-temporal classes into 23 land cover classes defined by the Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) of the FAO. A validation plan based on regional land cover experts network has been prepared to validate the final land cover product.