An assessment of global forest cover maps using regional higher-resolution reference data sets

Xiao Peng Song, Chengquan Huang, Joseph O. Sexton, Min Feng, Raghuram Narasimhan, Saurabh Channan, John R. Townshend

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Six coarse-resolution global land cover maps are assessed for forest mapping using higher-resolution (i.e. 30-m, "Landsat" resolution) regional land cover products as reference. All products are aggregated spatially and thematically to derive fractional forest cover maps at 5-km spatial resolution. Forest-cover accuracy varies by product and continent. Compared with reference, GLC2000, GLCC and GlobCover consistently overestimate forest cover while MODIS VCF consistently underestimates in North America, South America and Africa. MODIS LC and UMD LC underestimate forest cover in North America and Africa but overestimate in South America. The products' root mean square errors (RMSE) against reference vary from 21.73% to 27.71% for North America, from 23.23% to 32.77% for South America, and from 20.10% to 29.76% for Africa.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2011 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, IGARSS 2011 - Proceedings
Pages752-755
Number of pages4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2011
Event2011 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, IGARSS 2011 - Vancouver, BC, Canada
Duration: Jul 24 2011Jul 29 2011

Publication series

NameInternational Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS)

Conference

Conference2011 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, IGARSS 2011
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityVancouver, BC
Period07/24/1107/29/11

Keywords

  • Global
  • Landsat
  • assessment
  • forest
  • land cover

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