Cambodian ecosystem data
Published February 9, 2026 | Version v2
Dataset Open

Land Cover Reference Data from Kulen, Cambodia (March–April 2021)

Authors/Creators

  • 1. ROR icon Lund University
  • 2. ROR icon Royal University of Phnom Penh
  • 3. Ministry of Environment (Cambodia)

Contributors

Description

This land cover reference dataset comprises 437 polygons across 12 classes, covering 6,062 ha within a 10-km buffer around Kulen, Cambodia. It was derived from 494 GPS points collected during field observations (March–April 2021), drone imagery from 10 sites (617 ha, 0.04–0.10 m resolution, RMSE <1.30 m), and digitized reference polygons from March 2021 PlanetScope imagery (4.8 m resolution). Only high-interpretability areas, such as water bodies, and sites visited during GPS data collection, including rubber plantations, other tree plantations, and evergreen forests, were digitized from PlanetScope imagery.

 

Note: Details of the study area and data collection methods are described in the following publication.
Sovann, C., Olin, S., Mansourian, A., Sakhoeun, S., Prey, S., Kok, S., & Tagesson, T. (2025). Importance of Spectral Information, Seasonality, and Topography on Land Cover Classification of Tropical Land Cover Mapping. Remote Sensing, 17(9), 1551. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17091551 

Technical info

Land use and land cover class definitions

No

Land cover class

ID

Description

1

Evergreen forests

EF

Areas covered by trees maintain their leaves during the whole year.

2

Semi-evergreen forests

SE

Contain variable percentages of evergreen and deciduous trees.

3

Deciduous forests

DF

Comprised of dry mixed deciduous forest and dry Dipterocarp forests

4

Regrowth forests

RF

Areas of naturally regenerated forest where there are clearly visible indications of human activities such as selective logging, areas regenerating following agricultural land use, areas recovering from human-induced fire, etc.

- Include forests where it is not possible to distinguish.

- whether planted or natural regeneration. Include forests with a mix of naturally regenerated trees and planted/seeded trees, and where the naturally regenerated trees are expected to constitute more than 50 percent of the growing stock at stand maturity.

Include abandoned forest land and bare land which will regrow into forest within ten years.

5

Bamboo

BF

Areas dominated by bamboo

6

Tree plantations

TP

This class includes the following types: teak, eucalyptus, acacia, jatropha, and others.

7

Rubber plantations

RP

Areas currently supporting, and areas reserved for, rubber plantation

8

Croplands

CL

This category includes arable and tillage land, and agro-forestry systems where vegetation falls below the thresholds used for the forest land category. Examples of cropland include cassava and mango plantations.

9

Paddy rice fields

PF

A Paddy field is a flooded parcel of arable land used for growing semiaquatic rice.

10

Villages

VL

The patch of land with houses and gardens surrounding the house.

11

Water bodies

WB

Area of fresh and seawater

12

Cashew plantations

CP

This area is primarily dominated by cashew trees, ranging from small household-scale plantations to larger commercial plantations.

Note: All LC class descriptions follow the Cambodia National Land Cover Definitions [1], except for cashew plantations, which were included due to their recent emergence as a significant agricultural crop in the region.

[1] Ministry of Environment (Cambodia). (2020). Cambodia forest cover 2018. Phnom Penh,Cambodia: Mininistry of Environment.

Technical info

Coordinate system:
    Geographic Coordinate System: GCS_WGS_1984
    Datum: D_WGS_1984
    Prime Meridian: Greenwich
    Angular Unit: Degree

Files

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Additional details

Funding

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency