Hansen Global Forest Change

UMD — version 1.12 (December 2024)

Description

This dataset quantifies tree cover (%) in the year 2000, forest gain from 2000 to 2012, and, if present, the year of forest loss from the year 2000 onwards. Data has global coverage at 30 m spatial resolution.

Dataset ID
9659ec1d
Category
Plant biomass
Type
Raster
CRS
EPSG:4326
Spatial coverage
Global
Spatial resolution
30 m
Temporal coverage
2000+
Temporal resolution
Annual

Usage notes

New time points are delivered approximately annually. Ongoing improvements in Landsat sensors, land data availability, and algorithms may create inconsistencies in forest change metrics. Consider computing three-year moving averages, where appropriate. This dataset is not proven for rigorous area-based deforestation analysis (e.g. for EUDR).

Variables

tree_cover

Typeuint8Units%

Description

The canopy cover of trees for the year 2000. Data is generated using a decision tree trained to predict high resolution imagery and existing tree cover layers from Landsat 7 (2000+), Landsat 8 (2013+), and Landsat 9 (2022+) data.

Usage notes

Tree is defined as vegetation > 5 m height.

forest_gain

Typeuint8

Description

Indicates whether a pixel shifted from a non-forest to forest over the period 2000-2012. Data is generated using a decision tree trained to predict high resolution imagery and existing tree cover layers from Landsat 7 (2000+), Landsat 8 (2013+), and Landsat 9 (2022+) data.

Usage notes

Forest is defined as a pixel with > 50% tree cover. Reported global and per-biome accuracy is > 99%. Variable has not been updated since v1.0.

IndexName
0No gain
1Gain

loss_year

Typeuint8

Description

The year a forest pixel became non-forest, Data is generated using a decision tree trained to predict high resolution imagery and existing tree cover layers from Landsat 7 (2000+), Landsat 8 (2013+), and Landsat 9 (2022+) data.

Usage notes

Forest loss is defined as stand-replacement disturbance or shift from forest to non-forest state. Reported global and per-biome accuracy is > 99%. Forest loss does not consider forest degradation (e.g. no change to non-forest state). This dataset version includes reprocessing of loss data from 2011 onwards, possibly leading to inconsistencies before and after this year.

ValueName
0No loss
1+Loss year after 2000. For instance, a value of 9 would indicate forest loss in 2009.

data_mask

Typeuint8

Description

Indicates whether a pixel is land or a permanent water body for the period 2000-2012.

IndexName
0No data
1Land surface
2Permanent water body

Pricing

This dataset has no data acquisition cost.

Resources

Provider

UMD

glad.umd.edu

The Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) laboratory at the University of Maryland (UMD) studies and develops tools for assessing global land surface change using satellite imagery. GLAD also collaborates on major initiatives including Global Forest Watch and the World Resources Institute Land and Carbon Lab.