Global Land Survey Landsat Data

All Landsat data have been orthorectified using geodetic and elevation control data to correct for positional accuracy and relief displacement and to ensure co-registration across epochal imagery.

GLS 1990
This dataset consists of Landsat 4/5 TM imagery acquired for 1990
(+/- 3 years). However, individual scene dates may range from 1985 to 1996.

GLS 2000
This dataset consists of Landsat 7 ETM+ imagery acquired for 2000
(+/- 1 year).

GLS 2005
This dataset consist of Landsat 7 ETM+ and 5 TM imagery with core acquisition dates of 2005-2006. Data recorded in 2004 and 2007 is used as needed to fill areas of low image quality or excessive cloud cover. ETM+ scenes for this epoch have a data loss due to the Scan-Line Corrector failure in 2003. This requires combining two ETM+ scenes for each path/row to have complete, or near-complete, coverage.

Source Landsat GLS data could be obtained at no cost from USGS EROS Data Center.

External datasets used for auxiliary information

Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World
World Wildlife Fund
Olson, D.M., E. Dinerstein, E.D. Wikramanayake, N.D. Burgess, G.V.N. Powell, E.C. Underwood, J.A. D'Amico, I. Itoua, H.E. Strand, J.C. Morrison, C.J. Loucks, T.F. Allnutt, T.H. Ricketts, Y. Kura, J.F. Lamoreux, W.W. Wettengel, P. Hedao, and K.R. Kassem. Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Life on Earth. BioScience 51:933-938.
on-line access

Vector Map Level 0 (VMAP0): Political boundaries data layer
United States National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA)
on-line access

SRTM Water Body Data (SWBD)
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
on-line access

ETOPO2 Global 2-Minute Gridded Elevation Data
U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Geophysical Data Center
on-line access

Vegetation Continuous Fields (VCF)
University of Maryland, South Dakota State University
Hansen, M., R.S. DeFries, J.R.G. Townshend, M. Carroll, C. Dimiceli, Sohlberg R.A. (2003), Global Percent Tree Cover at a Spatial Resolution of 500 Meters: First Results of the MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields Algorithm. Earth Interactions, Vol 7, No 10, pp 1-15.
on-line access

World Map of the Koppen-Geiger climate classification updated
University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna
Kottek, M., J. Grieser, C. Beck, B. Rudolf, and F. Rubel, 2006: World Map of the Koppen-Geiger climate classification updated. Meteorol. Z., 15, 259-263.
on-line access

WorldClim Climate Grids (V 1.4)
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (University of California, Berkeley)
on-line access

Global Administrative Unit Layers (GAUL) 2008
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
metadata

Global Ecological Zones (GEZ) 2000
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
metadata