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Updated Land Cover Regions (Version 2.0)

The first release of the global land cover database occurred in November, 1997.  The users of the global land cover characteristics database have provided considerable feedback as to needed refinements and added alternatives.   Through this website, we now offer Version 2.0 of the Global Land Cover Database.  This release provides updated land cover categories for approximately 10 percent of the land surface of the globe.  More details about the revisions to land cover regions are found in the Global Readme and by consulting the ascii tables* that contain detailed information about the updated seasonal land cover regions for each of the continents in the database:
 

• North America Attribute Table*
• South America Attribute Table*
• Eurasia Attribute Table*
• Africa Attribute Table*
• Australia/Pacific Attribute Table*



*Tables are in a tab delimited, ascii text format.

Geographic Projection

The following classification schemes are now available in a global geographic projection with 30 arc second grid cell size.  Please consult the Global Readme for the image projection parameters.

• Global Ecosystems
• International Geosphere Biosphere Programme Land Cover Classification (DISCover)
• USGS Land Use/Land Cover System
• Simple Biosphere Model
• Simple Biosphere 2 Model
• Biosphere Atmosphere Transfer Scheme
• Vegetation Lifeforms

Inland Water Delineation

Version 2 of the database includes two separate water classes, Inland Water and Ocean Water.  The inland water class is found in several classification schemes (Seasonal Land Cover Regions, Biosphere Atmosphere Transfer Scheme, and Global Ecosystems).  Water delination was performed using simple manual GIS methods to separate inland water at or near the coastline.

Additional Classification Scheme

We have added Vegetation Lifeforms classification scheme to the GLCC database.  Based on the work of Running and others (1994, 1995), this scheme includes the categories listed below.  Vegetation is mapped into a simple scheme where categories are defined based on the presence or absence of trees and the leaf longeavity.

Global data are expressed in the following categories.
1 Evergreen Needleleaf Vegetation
2 Evergreen Broadleaf Vegetation
3 Deciduous Needleleaf Vegetation
4 Dedicuous Broadleaf Vegetation
5 Annual Broadleaf Vegetation
6 Annual Grass Vegetation
7 Non-Vegetated Land
8 Water Bodies
 

Global Publications Summary

Over 120 publications are listed in the Global Publications Summary .  Updated periodically, this list includes publication references by both members of the GLCC project team and authors who have used land cover for research and applications.  Please send your publication references to lcac@usgs.gov