Fraction of global land cover classes (1992 - 2022) - derived variables from ESA CCI Land Cover time series

The ESA CCI Land Cover time series describes the land surface with 22 classes at a spatial resolution of 0.002778° (~ 300 m) annually from 1992 to 2022. Here in this dataset we calculated the fraction of each class in 4 grid schemes as aggregated factors of 5, 10, 50 and 100 pixels for the whole time series. As a result, we created 22 layers per year corresponding to each of the classes for each grid scheme, representing the fraction of each class in the corresponding aggregated factors globally. We summarised the results by year, by class and by IPBES Units of Analysis (UoA). This allows end users to explore changes in the fraction of a single land cover class in their work with significantly less computational effort.

Fraction of 100 pixels (A100):

• By land cover classes: "ESA-LCCS-1992-2022_A100_ByClass.zip" - 38 layers corresponding to 22 classes and their subclasses, each layer contains 31 years 1992 - 2022, 30 km spatial resolution, GeoTiff.
• By years: "ESA-LCCS-1992-2022_A100_ByYear.zip"  - 31 layers corresponding to 31 years 1992 - 2022, each layer contains 38 layers corresponding to 22 class and their subclasses, 30 km spatial resolution, GeoTiff.
• By IPBES Units of Analysis: "ESA-LCCS-1992-2022_A100_ByUoA.zip" - 4 layers corresponding to 4 IPBES units of analysis (Urban Areas, Cultivated Areas, Forests, and Anthromes), each layer contains 31 years 1992 - 2022, 30 km spatial resolution, GeoTiff.

Fraction of 50 pixels (A050):

• By land cover classes: "ESA-LCCS-1992-2022_A050_ByClass.zip" - 38 layers corresponding to 22 classes and their subclasses, each layer contains 31 years 1992 - 2022, 15 km spatial resolution, GeoTiff.
• By years: "ESA-LCCS-1992-2022_A050_ByYear.zip"  - 31 layers corresponding to 31 years 1992 - 2022, each layer contains 38 layers corresponding to 22 class and their subclasses, 15 km spatial resolution, GeoTiff.
• By IPBES Units of Analysis: "ESA-LCCS-1992-2022_A050_ByUoA.zip" - 4 layers corresponding to 4 IPBES units of analysis (Urban Areas, Cultivated Areas, Forests, and Anthromes), each layer contains 31 years 1992 - 2022, 15 km spatial resolution, GeoTiff.

Fraction of 10 pixels (A010):

• By land cover classes: "ESA-LCCS-1992-2022_A010_ByClass.zip" - 38 layers corresponding to 22 classes and their subclasses, each layer contains 31 years 1992 - 2022, 3 km spatial resolution, GeoTiff.
• By years: "ESA-LCCS-1992-2022_A010_ByYear.zip"  - 31 layers corresponding to 31 years 1992 - 2022, each layer contains 38 layers corresponding to 22 class and their subclasses, 3 km spatial resolution, GeoTiff.
• By IPBES Units of Analysis: "ESA-LCCS-1992-2022_A010_ByUoA.zip" - 4 layers corresponding to 4 IPBES units of analysis (Urban Areas, Cultivated Areas, Forests, and Anthromes), each layer contains 31 years 1992 - 2022, 3 km spatial resolution, GeoTiff.

 Fraction of 5 pixels (A005):

• By land cover classes: "ESA-LCCS-1992-2022_A005_ByClass.zip" - 38 layers corresponding to 22 classes and their subclasses, each layer contains 31 years 1992 - 2022, 1500 m spatial resolution, GeoTiff.
• By years: "ESA-LCCS-1992-2022_A005_ByYear.zip"  - 31 layers corresponding to 31 years 1992 - 2022, each layer contains 38 layers corresponding to 22 class and their subclasses, 1500 m spatial resolution, GeoTiff.
• By IPBES Units of Analysis: "ESA-LCCS-1992-2022_A005_ByUoA.zip" - 4 layers corresponding to 4 IPBES units of analysis (Urban Areas, Cultivated Areas, Forests, and Anthromes), each layer contains 31 years 1992 - 2022, 1500 m spatial resolution, GeoTiff.

Data type: Gridded
Projection: Plate Carrée (https://epsg.io/32662) identical to the input dataset
Horizontal coverage: Global
Horizontal resolution:1500 m (aggregated by 5; A005), 3000 m (aggregated by 10; A010), 15 km (aggregated by 50; A050), 30 km (aggregated by 100; A100)
Temporal coverage: 1992 to 2022
Temporal resolution: Annual
File format: GeoTiff

The IPBES Units of Analysis are the result of dividing the Earth's surface into units for the sole purpose of IPBES assessments. More information on these units can be found in Chapter 1 of the IPBES Global Assessment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Some of the IPBES units of analysis are directly derived from the ESA CCI Land Cover time series:

• Urban areas -> corresponds to class 190 of the land cover map,
• Agricultural land -> corresponds to classes 10 (including 11 and 12), 20, 30 and 40 of the land cover map,
• Forest areas - > corresponds to classes 50, 60 (including 61 and 62), 70 (including 71 and 72), 80 (including 81 and 82), 90, 100, 160 and 170 of the land cover map,
• Anthromes are also considered as the sum of urban and cultivated areas.

The underlying dataset has been derived from the ESA CCI Land Cover Classification gridded maps. Version 2.0.7cds for the land cover maps for the years 1992 - 2015. Version 2.1.1 for the land cover maps for the years 2016 - 2022.

This work was initially initiated within the EU Horizon ERA-Planet GEOEssential project (www.geoessential.eu). The GEOEssential project was based on an end-user-driven approach to identify environmental policy indicators and their associated Essential Variables (EVs), as well as the corresponding Earth observation data sources. As part of the GEOEssential project, we developed a workflow to aggregate the ESA CCI Land Cover Classification gridded maps into an end-user friendly format and structure. Since then we have maintained the dataset on an annual basis.