Land Cover Classification System for Continental/Global Applications
(c): The latest project to map global land cover by remote sensing is being done by the IGBP-DIS Land Cover Working Group which has established land cover classification system based on Running's methodology (Running 1994). In this classification system, forest are divided into four main classes such
as Evergreen Broadleaf, Evergreen Needleleaf, Deciduous Broadleaf, and Deciduous Needleleaf. These four classes are introduced to the proposed classification system because discrimination of these classes are important for global change studies.
For example, Evergreen forest and shrubland (60) is included in Evergreen forest or shrubland (14),
Forest or shrubland (12) and Vegetation (10). Therefore an explanation of Evergreen forest and
shrubland (60) includes the explanation of the classes, 14, 12 and 10. That is, "Evergreen canopy cover
> 60%" must be added to the explanation of Evergreen forest and shrubland (60)
Table l(a) Proposed land cover classification system (LCWG, AARS) September 1995
Table 1 (b) Explanation of land cover classes
|
Class code: Class name and Explanation
|
10: Vegetation
Vegetation but cannot be interpreted
into any class from 12 to 184;
hereafter the meaning of the underlined
part is written like (12-184)
|
12: Forest or shrubland (14-120)
Forest or shrubs canopy cover is > 60%
|
14: Evergreen forest or shrubland ( 16-60)
Canopy is never without green foliage.
Evergreen canopy cover > 60%
|
16: Evergreen forest (18-36)
Forest canopy cover is > 60%. Tree
height is exceeding 2 meters.
|
| 18: Evergreen broadleaf forest (20-25)
|
| 20: Natural evergreen broadleaf forest
|
| 22: Evergreen broadleaf tree crops (23-25)
|
| 23: Oil palm
|
| 24: Coconut
|
| 25: Others
|
| 36: Evergreen needleleaf forest
|
42: Evergreen shrubland (44-48)
shrubs canopy cover is > 60%. Tree
height is less than 3 meters.
|
| 44: Natural evergreen needleleaf shrubland
|
| 46: Evergreen shrub crops (47-48)
|
| 47: Tea
|
| 48: Other evergreen shrub crops
|
60: Evergreen forest and shrubland
10% < forest canopy cover < 60%
10% < shrub canopy cover < 60%
|
70: Deciduous forest or shrubland (72-110)
With an annual cycle of leaf-on and
leaf -off periods. Deciduous canopy
cover > 60%.
|
72: Deciduous forest (74-90)
Forest canopy cover is > 60%. Tree
height exceeding 3 meters.
|
| 74: Deciduous broadleaf forest (76-80)
|
| 76: Natural deciduous broadleaf forest
|
| 78: Deciduous broadleaf tree crops (79-80)
|
| 79: Rubber
|
| 80: Other deciduous broadleaf tree crops
|
| 90: Deciduous needleleaf forest
|
92: Deciduous shrubland (94-98)
Shrub canopy cover is > 60%. Tree
height is less than 3 meters.
|
| 94: Natural deciduous shrubland
|
| 96: Deciduous shrub crops (97-98)
|
| 97: Cotton
|
| 98: Other deciduous shrub crops
|
110: Deciduous forest and shrubland
10% < forest canopy cover < 60%
10% < shrub canopy cover < 60%
|
120: Mixed forest or shrubland
Neither evergreen nor deciduous forest
or shrubs exceeds 60% of coverage.
|
130: Grassland (132-145)
Tree and shrub cover is less than 10%.
|
| 132: Natural grassland / pasture
|
140: Grass crops (141-145)
include cereal and other grass type crop
|
| 141: Paddy
|
| 142: Wheat
|
| 143: Sugarcane
|
| 144: Corn
|
| 145: Other grass crops
|
160: Mixed vegetation
10% < forest or shrub canopy < 60%
10% < grass cover < 60%
include savanna and mixed land with cropland, shrubland, forest and few houses
|
| 170: Wetland (172-174)
|
| 172: Mangrove
|
174: Swamp
Any type of wetland with vegetation except mangrove
|
180: Little vegetation (182-184)
Vegetation cover is more than 10 % at the peak season
|
| 182: Tundra
|
| 184: Others
|
190: Non vegetation (191-210)
Vegetation cover is less than 10 % at any time of a year
|
| 191:.Bare ground (192-195)
|
| 192: Rock
|
| 193: Stones or gravel
|
| 194: Sand
|
| 195: Clay
|
| 200: Perennial snow or ice
|
| 210: Built-up area
|
| 220: Water (222-226)
|
222: Inland water
Lake, pond, river, reservoir
|
224: Water with seasonal change
Inland water with dry period
|
| 226: Tidal flat |
(d): One of the main concern in land use management and planning in Asian countries is agricultural land. 'j Therefore main crop types are included in the classification system.
(e): Unique land cover classes in African or American continent can be added as a new class.
(f): The proposed land cover classification system is not a fixed one. It can be improved by addition of : classes or modification of system. For example, once all forest and all shrubland in the global area are -classified correctly, "Forest or shrubland (12)" will be removed and new classes, "Forest" and : "Shrubland" , will come to the second highest level of the hierarchical system. And "Evergreen forest ( 16)" ..and "Deciduous forest (70)" will be included in the "Forest" (g): Classification of Forest, Shrubland, and Grassland
(g): For the purpose of global change studies, the discrimination of vegetation into forest, shrubland, and grassland is important. Shrubs is small woody plants that are branched from the base. The proposed system used a threshold value of 3 meters height to distinguish shrubland from forest. As shown in Figure l(a), there are logically seven categories in the combination of forest, shrubland and grassland such as F, S, G, FS, SG, FG, FSG in the figure. Since the category of FSG is too detail, FSG is divided into Mfs, Msg, and Mfg and these three are combined to FS, SG, and FG, respectively (see Figure 1 (b ". By this alternation, seven categories are reduced to six categories. Moreover, since the discrimination between forest and shrubland by low-resolution satellite remote sensing data is difficult, two categories, "Forest" and "Shrubland" are combined into a larger category, "Forest or shrubs". Similarly, FG and SG are combined into a larger category," Mixed vegetation". Finally, seven categories in the figure are merged into three categories such as "Forest or shrubs (code: 12; F, S, FS, and Mfs)", "Grassland (code: 130; G)", and "Mixed vegetation (code: 160; FG, SG, Mfg, and Msg)" as shown in Figure l(c).
Figure 1 Forest, Shrubland and Grassland
(h): Cropland is divided into tree crops (code: 22 or 78), shrub crops (code: 46 or 96) and grass crops -0:
(code: 140) because the discrimination between cropland and natural vegetation by low-resolution satellite remote sensing data is generally more difficult than the discrimination between "Forest or shrubs" and " "Grassland".
4. Examples of legends
Based on the land cover classification system as shown in Table 1, some legends can be established. The following shows relationships between a category, "Forest" (and a category, "Shrubland"), in a legend and class codes in the land cover classification system.
Forest: class code 16+ 18+20+22+23+24+25+36+ 72+ 74+ 76+ 78+ 79+80+90
+ part of 120 + part of 12 + part of 10
Shrubland: class code 42+44+46+47+48+92+94+96+97+98
+ part of 120 + part of 12 + part of 10
5. Conclusion
The Land Cover Working Group of AARS proposed a new land cover classification system in this paper. Any comments or opinions about the proposed classification system are welcome to improve it. Based on the classification system, land cover dataset of Asia with 8 km resolution is developing.
Acknowledgements
The land cover classification system proposed in this paper has developed by the cooperation with 49working group members from 28 countries. Authors would like to thank all working group members for their valuable cooperation. Authors would also thank Dr. Colin Mitchell of ISMARSC Limited for his detail comments to the land cover classification system.
References
-
Running, S.W., T.R. Loveland, and L.L. Pierce," A Vegetation Classification Logic Based on Remote Sensing for Use in Global Biochemical Models", Ambio, \()1.23, No.1, 1994
- Tateishi, R., C. Wen, and K. Perera, "Working Group Report and Land Cover Database of Asia ",
Proc. 15th ACRS, 17-23 Nov., 1994, pp. M
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Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Vol. XXX, Part 4W1, Boulder, 30-31
May, 1995a
- Tateishi,R., "Land Cover Database of Asia", Proceedings of the International Symposium on
Vegetation Monitoring, Chiba, Japan, 29-31 August, 1995b
- UNEP/FAO, "Report of the UNEP/FAO Expert Meeting on Harmonizing Land Cover and Land Use
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