GLCNMO Land Cover Data

The Global Land Cover by National Mapping Organizations (GLCNMO) provides geospatial information in raster format, classifying the status of land cover across the entire globe into 20 distinct categories. This classification adheres to the Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) developed by FAO, enabling seamless comparison and integration with other LCCS-based land cover data products.

GLCNMO data were developed through a collaborative effort involving the secretariat of ISCGM, the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI), Chiba University, and National Geospatial Information Agencies (NGIAs) from various countries and regions. The data generation relies on MODIS data and advanced remote sensing technology. The datasets cover the whole globe in grids of 500m (15 seconds) intervals for Versions 2 and 3.

Currently, three versions of the data are available, corresponding to different periods: Version 1 (MODIS 2003, 30 arcseconds resolution), Version 2 (MODIS 2008, 15 arcseconds resolution), and Version 3 (MODIS 2013, 15 arcseconds resolution). All versions utilize the WGS84 coordinate system and are provided as 8-bit Byte data with little-endian ordering.