ESA - Eduspace EN - Global Change - The MERIS sensor and the Globcover Project

Coastal change

Danube Delta change detection Oil spills

Deforestation

Bardia National Park Congo River Basin Kameng-Sonitpur Elephant Reserve Kilimanjaro Rondonia Shillong and Guwahati

Ice

Antarctica 2003 Climate change and glaciers Glacier analysis using radar imagery Glacial retreat in the Alps Glacier Ice Flow Monitoring of glaciers in the Himalayas Remote sensing of ice and snow

Urbanisation

Cairo City of Kathmandu Córdoba Himalayas Kathmandu Valley Lagos

Vegetation

Annapurna Conservation Area Lost in the Andes Ngorongoro Conservation Area Niger Inland Delta Vegetation in South America


MERIS mosaic of South America

The MERIS sensor and the Globcover Project

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b) The GlobCover project

The GlobCover initiative was developed to generate a global land cover map for the years 2005 and 2006. The service was designed in a way that would make it possible to update the map. It is an ESA initiative that was launched in 2005, and is led by an international network of partners including EEA, FAO, GOFC-GOLD, IGBP, JRC, and UNEP.

GlobCover uses Envisat’s MERIS fine resolution (300m) source mode data acquired between the end of 2004 and mid 2006 as its main data source. For maximum user benefit, the thematic legend was made compatible with the UN Land Cover Classification System (LCCS).

The following GlobCover products are generated on a global scale with a spatial resolution of 300 metres:

Bimonthly MERIS FR Composites
Annual MERIS FR Composites
Land Cover Classification

The MERIS FR Composite products are temporal composites of surface reflectance generated on a bimonthly and annual basis. They are an output of the GlobCover pre-processing chain applying geometric and radiometric corrections.

The bimonthly MERIS FR composite is computed every 2 months and provides, for each spectral band, the average surface reflectance calculated from all valid observations of this 2-month period.

The annual MERIS FR composite is computed by averaging the surface reflectance values of the bimonthly product over an entire year.

The bimonthly composites are the products we are going to use when we compare them with the SPOT VEGETATION NDVI product. NDVI is already calculated in this product, following the quality controls stipulated.

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Vegetation in South America

Background

Vegetation in South America Main Ecosystems Vegetation Indices SPOT VEGETATION imagery The MERIS sensor and the Globcover Project

Exercises

Exercise 1: NDVI - Vegetation from space Exercise 2 : NDVI Animation Exercise 3: NDVI dynamics by biogeographical zones