LCCS

1. LCCS LAND COVER CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM GENERAL BACKGROUND

2. Land cover classification system WATH IS: LCCS is a comprehensive methodology for description, characterization, classification and comparison of most land cover identified anywhere in the world, at any scale and at different levels of detail.

3. Land cover classification system LCCS is a new world wide “language” to allow a rational use and an easy exchange of land cover information between different countries, institutions, end users.

4. Land cover classification system WHY A NEW CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM? In the last 10 years the GIS capabilities (spatial analysis) became widely diffuse at any level. GIS software's cheaper, more powerful and user friendly. Spatial analysis has became an essential tool in Natural Resources assessment, modeling and planning.

5. Land cover classification system Derived consequences: • gigantic increase of digital data users • increased necessity/possibility of data exchange between • different users and disciplines • strong need of new data • problem of data integrability and flexibility • problem of miss use of the data Today the value of a data-set not only depends by the quality and the amounts of details present but also by the level of flexibility, integrability with other type of data and standardization of the information. LCCS ALLOWS THE PRODUCTION OF DATA FULLY COMPATABLE TO THE GIS ENVIRONMENT

6. Land cover classification system • Major advantages of the method • LCCS gives to the user the possibility to define a • large number of land cover features (app.100.000) • despite the large number all the classes have a very • distinctive and unambiguous meaning • LCCS create an absolute level of standardization • between the different users

7. Land cover classification system • Major possible applications: • all the land cover/natural resources mapping • activities at any scale in any part of the world • bridging system between land cover maps • that use local or not standardized legends • possible link between small scale global • mapping activities and detailed large scale • national mapping programs • bridging system to link natural resources • statistical census with mapping programs • at national or regional level

8. Land cover classification system Background: • LCCS is the result of many years of efforts of FAO(Food and • Agriculture Organization) and UNEP(United Nation Environmental • Program) to harmonize data collection and management and to • take a step towards an internationally agreed reference base for • land cover and and land use. • The initial concept of LCCS was discussed and endorsed by an • international working group on Classification and Legend in • Senegal (1996). More than 60 experts from different countries • were present.

9. Land cover classification system • While is fully development (1997-1999) the system links with • other international ongoing initiatives: • FDGC (U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee) • ECWG(U.S. Vegetation Subcommittee and Earth Cover Working Group) • USDA Forest Service • IGBP (International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme) • LUCC (Land Use and Land Cover Change) • South African National Land Cover Database Project

10. Since is publication (November 2000) more than 1300 copies • of the manual/software has been distributed to international • and national institutions all over the world. • LCCS is the Land Cover Classification endorsed by FAO and • UNEP. • It has been adopted by the IGBP network in the LUCC program. • It has been adopted by JRC for the GLC2000 initiative • More than 8 millions of Km are currently mapped at 1:200000 • scale with this method under the Africover program. • Many translation exercises of old legends in LCCS are ongoing. 2 Land cover classification system Results:

11. Land cover classification system • The following workshops/seminars on the use of LCCS have • been or will be undertaken during this year: • IGBP-GLUCC seminar (Ispra, October 2000) • GLC2000 seminar on classification and legend (Ispra, December 2000) • Workshop/seminar in USGS (Sioux Falls, May/June 2001) • E.C.A. Regional Conference (Addis Ababa, Sept 2001) • Africa - GIS Conference (Nairobi, Oct. 2001) • Workshops in New Zealand and Japan (date to be established) • From next month a web page fully dedicated to LCCS users will be • established

12. Land cover classification system Future actions: The FAO will assure a regular update of the concept/software. The release of the new software version is expected at the beginning of the year 2002. The new version will be done in a new programming language, and will include some modifications as indicated by the user community. The compatibility between the different LCCS versions will always be maintained

13. LCCS LAND COVER CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM SPECIPHIC BACKGROUND

14. Forestry Agriculture Rangeland Wild life Planning Land cover classification system MULTIPURPOSE AFRICOVER DATABASE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES UNIQUE SOURCE OF BASIC ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION Standardization process - Comparability- Increasing efficiency Cost reduction - Easy to update - Conform international standards

15. Land cover classification system INTERPRETATION RESULT STUDY AREA SPATIAL DATA BASE GEN. SPATIAL ANALISYS LOST OF INFORMATION CONSTANT AMOUNT OF INFORMATION

16. Land cover classification system INFORMATION EXTRACTION PROCESS GENERALIZATION SPATIAL TEMATIC INHERENT CHARACTERISTIC OF THE STUDY AREA - THE TRUTH RESULT OF THE PROCESS CLASSIFICATION/LEGEND CARTOGRAPHIC STANDARDS INTERPRETATION PROCESS

17. Land cover classification system CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM LEGEND INFORMATION CONTENT SCALE INHERENT CHAR. AREA CARTOGRAPHIC STANDARDS INTERPRETATION PROCESS ACCURACY DATA TYPE- ANC.DATA- FIELD WORK- INT. SKILL TIME BUDGET

18. Land cover classification system NEW CONCEPT OF MULTI USER ORIENTED NATURAL RESOURCES DATA BASE INTERP. STANDARDIZ. MULTI USER DATA BASE BROWSER ACCURACY ANALISYS INTERPRETATION SOFTWARES CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM AIMS Land cover class. Syst. AFRICOVER INTERPR. AND MAPPING SYSTEM Africov. Africov. Map IMAGE PROCESSING BASED Interp. Database Acc. GEOVIS DATA BASE GATEW. Prog. Database GIS BASED

19. LCCS LAND COVER CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

20. Objectives • Why a new classification? • Despite the importance of land cover, an internationally accepted reference base does not exist. • Many classifications are heterogeneous with respect to quality, scale and nomenclature; • Class definitions are imprecise, ambiguous and/or absent; • Some classifications have a limited ability to accommodate the whole range of potential classes. • There is a strong urge to have a common classification system. • Land cover types cross national boundaries; • To facilitate data exchange, a common “language” is required.

21. Objectives • Why land cover? • Land cover is one of the most important elements for description and study of the environment. • The main resource controlling primary productivity for terrestrial ecosystems can be defined in terms of land (and its cover); • Land cover is the easiest detectable indicator of human interventions on the land. • Land cover is a critical parameter for environmental databases. • Land cover changes quickly over time; • Land cover is the basic geographic feature that other environmental applications can use as reference base.

22. Classification Concepts Definition Land cover is the observed (bio)physical cover on the earth’s surface. It includes vegetation and man-made features as well as bare rock, bare soil and inland water surfaces.

23. Classification Concepts Difference between Classification and Legend -1- Classification is defined as the“ordering or arrangement of objects into groups or sets on the basis of their relationships”(Sokal, 1974). It is an abstract representation of the situation in the field using well-defined diagnostic criteria. Abstract representation of a classification consisting of a continuum with two gradients: circles and triangles in red and white (Küchler and Zonneveld, 1988). Concrete situation in the field in a particular area (Küchler and Zonneveld, 1988). One should note that not all possible combinations of circles and triangles in black and white here represented occur in the left side (abstract representation).

24. height leaf phenology >50m >5m 30m evergreen deciduous mixed natural vegetation natural vegetation 1 2 3 4 ... 100% 1 2 3 4 ... aphyllous needle leaved broadleaved (very small) 50% Geographic area broadleaved 25 (very large) 10% 97 98 99 100 cover leaf type Land Cover Classification System L C C S Classificationis defined as the“ordering or arrangement of objects into groups or sets on the basis of their relationships”(Sokal, 1974). It is an abstract representation of the situation in the field using well-defined diagnostic criteria.

25. Reference Classification System >50m >5m 30m 1 2 3 4 ... 100% DEFINED GEOGRAPHIC 33 47 AREA 50% 78 83 10% 97 9899100 derived legend Land Cover Classification System L C C S L C C S Legend is defined as the “application of a classification in a particular geographic area ” Inherent characteristic of the area determining the legend classes at a given scale and data type Interpretation activity mapping units

26. Classification Concepts A PRIORI CLASSIFICATION CONCRETE FIELD SITUATION ADVANTAGES: - HIERARCHICAL ORDER - STANDARDIZATION DISADVANTAGES: - IMPLICIT RIGIDITY OF THE SYSTEM ADVANTAGE: - HIGH DEGREE OF FLEXIBILITY DISADVANTAGES: - DEPENDING ON AREA - NO STANDARDIZATION OR HIERARCHICAL ORDER A POSTERIORI CLASSIFICATION A priori versus a posteriori classification

27. Conceptual Basis high level of low standardization flexibility understandable list of limited number of limited number of class names generic classes generic classes increasing number of classes enormous list of adequate number class names with of detailed classes unclear or too narrow class boundary low level of high standardization flexibility Current a-priori classifications in relation to flexibility Class boundary definitions will be clear and classes will contain aggregated land cover types. Therefore low flexibility. By increasing the number of classes in an a-priori system,this will increase the flexibility. Flexibility that will allow the accommodation of any occurring land cover. Class boundary definitions are based on very slight differences, this will decrease the level of standardisation.

28. Conceptual Basis New approach to classification -1- Increasingflexibility while maintaining mapability The classification should be flexible in the sense that it should address the potential for the classification system to describe enough classes to cope with the real world. At the same time flexibility should adhere to strict class boundary definitions that are unambiguous and clear. Basic principle A land cover class is defined by the combination of a set of independent diagnostic attributes, the so-called classifiers that are arranged to assure a high degree of mapability, i.e. geographical accuracy.

29. Conceptual Basis New approach to classification -2- Issues impeding application of the new approach Land cover deals with a heterogeneous set of classes, therefore one single set of classifiers cannot be used to describe all features. The set of classifiers is tailored to each major land cover feature in order to create meaningful combinations of classifiers. Furthermore, with the aim of achieving a logical and functional hierarchical arrangement of classifiers, certain design criteria have been applied.

30. Land cover classification system New approach for land cover classification Basic principle A land cover class is defined by the combination of a set of independent diagnostic attributes, the so-called classifiers . The combination of various types of classifier (trees, shrubs, herbaceous, closed, open, sparse, broadleaf, needleleaf etc.) give to the user the possibility to define a wide variety of different land cover features

31. Land cover classification system It is possible to state LCCS is a new language to describe in a standardised way the different land cover features. In a language words and a syntax allow to create a semantic concept. In LCCS it is the same, the classifiersare the wordsthe classification rulesare the syntax and the land cover featuresthe concepts to be described.

32. Conceptual Basis How to create Land Cover classes in LCCS ?: Like using a language, the all concepts exist.The problem is then to find out the good combination of words to describe them. The same is in LCCS, the user has to find out the right combination of classifiers to describe a certain land cover feature. No pre-defined list exist. The user must create each single class he/she needs one by one. This involves a process of passing from the idea of the class he/she has to the creation of the representation of the idea using a meaning ful sequence of classifiers that are able to exactly represent the idea he/she has of the specific land cover feature.

33. Conceptual Basis ? trees shrubs ? herbaceous closed ? sparse open broadleaved evergreen Trees A3 Closed A10 Height 14-7m B6 Needeleaved D2 Evergreen E1 =A3+A10+B6+D2+E1 How to create Land Cover classes in LCCS : Basic concept of a land cover class (the idea) Use of LCCS method (the language) Elaboration of the concept in the codified LCCS language (the concept expression)

34. Conceptual Basis LCCS is a concise language, it use the minimum set of classifiers to characterise a land cover feature. WHY? For three main reasons: - a difference exist between the process of classify or describe a feature. - the use of the minimum set of classifiers necessary reduce the interpretative errors and facilitate the homogenisation of the interpretation. - the characterisation of a land cover feature with the a minimum set of classifiers will reduce and simplify the field check.

35. Higher than 2.5 m Big hears Long tooth's Long noose Grey skin Big foots Long tooth's Long noose AFRICOVER - Eastern Africa Module If a description of an elephant must be done all the possible elements can be used THE DESCRIPTION OF A RABBIT FOR INSTANCE DOES’NOT AUTOMATICALLY IMPLIES THE USE OF THE SAME ELEMENTS If a classification must be done only few elements will be used, only the ones that allow a distinct identification. THE CLASSIFICATION OF A RABBIT WILL USE THE SAME ELEMENTS SHOWING THE DIFFERENCE IN RANGE OF THEIR VALUES

36. Land Cover Classification System L C C S • There is a strong urge to have a common classification system. • Land cover types cross national boundaries; • To facilitate data exchange, a common “language” is required.

37. high level of low standardization flexibility understandable list of limited number of limited number of class names generic classes generic classes enormous list of adequate number class names with of detailed classes unclear or too narrow class boundary low level of high standardization flexibility Land Cover Classification System L C C S increasing number of classes

38. LEGEND MODULE FIELD DATA MODULE CLASSIFICATION MODULE build up legend edit classes create user-defined land cover classes display legend save and retrieve print export standardized general field data collection specific field data collection automatic extraction of land cover class from field data saving of field data in synthetic form print and export all classifiers and attributes glossary conditions to create land cover classes database of all possible classes including name, code and description images and interpretation database TRANSLATOR MODULE translation of external classifications into LCCS similarity of external single classes through LCCS comparison of two external classifications through LCCS comparison of two LCCS classes Land cover classification system Overview of the software application

39. Africover - Eastern Africa Module Africover Database Gateway (ADG) it will be a user-friendly software that will allow an easy and fast re-grouping of the Land Cover polygons not only by class names but also, in a much more flexible and detailed way, by classifiers used. It will give to the Multi-Purpose database the tool to be really functional for multi-user applications. Africover Interactive Database for interpretation(AID) it will be an interactive software to guide and homogenize the land cover interpretation. It will be the basic tool interpreters of different disciplines and countries will use to learn, improve and homogenize Land Cover interpretations.

40. AFRICOVER - Eastern Africa Module LEGEND GENERATION PROCESS • A FIVE PHASES PROCESS IS APPLIED: • PRODUCTION OF A SO CALLED “TEORETICAL LEGEND” • PRELIMINARY INTERPRETATION TO ARRIVE TO PRODUCE • A”PRELIMINARY LEGEND” • FIELD SAMPLES TO PRODUCE AN “INTERMEDIATE ACCURACY • ANALISYS” OF THE CLASSES INTERPRETED • PREPARATION OF THE “FINAL LEGEND” • FINAL INTERPRETATION TO PRODUCE THE “FINAL LEGEND” THE LEGEND IS ALWAYS THE FINAL PRODUCT OF THE “INFORMATION EXTRACTION PROCESS”

41. Africover - Eastern Africa Module From the concept to the practical application: - a set of new dedicated tools is developed that are explained below- Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) is a new concept of land cover classification system that is flexible, able to describe any type of land cover feature in the world, at any scale or level of detail, in a standardized manner. It provides a common language to bridge users and existing systems. Africover Interpretation and Mapping System (AIMS) Geographic Vector Interpretation System (GeoVIS) is a new concept of on-screen interpretation software that combines the advantages of the digital automated classification and traditional visual interpretation in a synergetic way. It improves the interactive use of ancillary data and any other type data.

42. Land cover classification system It is possible to state LCCS is a new language to describe in a standardised way the different land cover features. In a language words and a syntax allow to create a semantic concept. In LCCS it is the same, the classifiersare the wordsthe classification rulesare the syntax and the land cover featuresthe concepts to be described.

43. Higher than 2.5 m Big hears Long tooth's Long noose Grey skin Big foots Long tooth's Long noose AFRICOVER - Eastern Africa Module If a description of an elephant must be done all the possible elements can be used THE DESCRIPTION OF A RABBIT FOR INSTANCE DOES’NOT AUTOMATICALLY IMPLIES THE USE OF THE SAME ELEMENTS If a classification must be done only few elements will be used, only the ones that allow a distinct identification. THE CLASSIFICATION OF A RABBIT WILL USE THE SAME ELEMENTS SHOWING THE DIFFERENCE IN RANGE OF THEIR VALUES

44. Land cover classification system NEW CONCEPT OF MULTI USER ORIENTED NATURAL RESOURCES DATA BASE INTERP. STANDARDIZ. MULTI USER DATA BASE BROWSER ACCURACY ANALISYS INTERPRETATION SOFTWARES CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM AIMS Land cover class. Syst. AFRICOVER INTERPR. AND MAPPING SYSTEM Africov. Map Africov. IMAGE PROCESSING BASED Acc. Interp. Database DATA BASE Prog. GATEW. Database GIS BASED

45. AFRICOVER - Eastern Africa Module LEGEND GENERATION PROCESS LCCS IS AN EXTREMELY FLEXIBLE SYSTEM (APP. 100000 land cover variations can be codified) THE FLEXIBILITY OF A CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM IS DIRECTLY LINKED WITH THE “THEMATIC GENERALIZATION” IN THE SENSE THAT AN INCREASE POSSIBILITY TO CODIFY THE “REALITY” CAN MINIMAZE THIS TYPE OF GENERALIZATION A CALIBRATION PROCESS MUST BE SET UP TO SELECT THE AMOUNT OF CLASSES THAT CAN BE “REALISTICALLY” MAPPED WITH THE AVAILABLE “INTERPRETATIVE TOOLS” (ANCILLARY DATA, FIELD SAMPLES, REMOTE SENSING DATA, LOCAL KNOLEDGE OF THE AREA ETC)

46. AFRICOVER - Eastern Africa Module LEGEND GENERATION IN AFRICOVER THE LEGEND IS THE MAXIMUM POINT OF EQUILIBRIUM BETWEEN THE INFORMATION GIVEN BY THE INHERENT CHARACTERISTICS OF THE STUDY AREA AND THE POSSIBILITY TO REPRODUCE THEM IN A BIDIMENSIONAL FORM (MAPPING ACTIVITY ADOPTED = CARTOGRAPHIC STANDARDS - INTERPRETATIVE PROCESS) NUMBER OF CLASSES INTERPRETATIVE PROCESS (TIME-EFFORT-COST)

47. 1a 2a 3a AFRICOVER - Eastern Africa Module

48. Objectives • The requirements that led to the creation of LCCS are: • harmonized and standardized collection of land cover data; • availability of land cover data for a wide range of applications and users; • comparison and correlation of land cover classes. LCCS is a comprehensive methodology for description, characterization, classification and comparison of any land cover identified anywhere in the world, at any scale.