Introduction
History of the European Land Cover Projects at RIVM
Project Information
Project Work Programme
Pelcom folder

The project aims at establishing a 1-km pan-European land cover database that can be updated frequently. The database will be based on the integrative use of multispectral and multitemporal 1-km resolution NOAA-AVHRR satellite data and ancillary data. PELCOM is a three years project accepted as a shared cost action under the Environment & Climate section of the European Union's 4th framework RTD programme. The project started in September 1996 and is carried out within an international framework, in which Alterra functions as the project co-ordinator. 

For more information have a look at the Pelcom folder

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History of the European Land Cover Projects at RIVM

For environmental studies the RIVM initiated in 1992 the establishment of a land cover data base for entire Europe, including Eastern Europe. The result was a data base with largely varying qualities. Especially for Eastern European countries it was difficult to obtain accurate and up-to-date information (Rob van de Velde et.al. 1993). Please have a look at the Version 1.0 Pan European Land Use data base: 10x10 minutes Pan European Land Use Database
Other methods were searched to be developed to solve the imperfections of the RIVM land use data base.
The Pilot project European land cover mapping for environmental monitoring (Rob van de Velde project leader, Staring Centrum undertaker, BCRS partial funding)was started. The succesfull pilot project, initiated a new BCRS funded project for further development of methods for deriving land cover at a Euopean scale. The purpose of this BCRS Land cover was to further develop methods and seek contacts in Europe for cooperation.

The European funded project PELCOM main obkective is to develop a consistent methodology to derive land cover information on a European scale from remote sensing for environmental modelling.

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For many environmental and agricultural studies on the various scales, up-to-date and reliable information on land use and land cover (LULC) is urgently needed. The development of a sound environmental policy relies intensely on the outcomes of environmental models, which themselves are significantly influenced by the areal and spatial accuracy of LULC data. However, at the moment georeferenced LULC databases with a high spatial accuracy that cover the entire European continent and that can be updated frequently are not available. The 10 minutes pan-European land use database of the dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), is a first step towards meeting the demands of environmental models on a European scale. However, a major drawback of the 10 minutes pan-European land use database is that it is based on statistical and spatial data from different sources that differ in spatial accuracy, reliability, age and nomenclature. Therefore, in addition alternatives have to be sought for.

For that reason the PELCOM project has been formulated. It aims at the establishment of a 1-km pan-European land cover database that can be updated frequently and which is based on the integrative use of multispectral and multitemporal 1-km resolution NOAA-AVHRR satellite data and ancillary data. PELCOM is a 3 years project accepted as a shared cost action under the Environment & Climate section of the European Union 4th framework RTD programme. The project started in September 1996. The project is executed within an international framework of which DLO Winand Staring Centre is the project co-ordinator.

Project partners

DLO-Winand Staring Centre for Integrated Land, Soil and Water Research (SC-DLO)

Swedish Space Corporation (SSC)

Austrian Research Center Seibersdorf (ARCS)

Meteo France (CNRM)

University of Venice (IUAV)

Space Applications Institute (SAI/JRC)

Geodan BV

The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM)
 
 

Approach

Different methodologies will be assessed to map and monitor land cover of the European continent by using low resolution satellite data. The main objective is to arrive at a consistent methodology for the establishment and regular update of a 1-km pan-European land cover database to be used as an input for environmental impact studies and climate research.
 

Goals

• to reach consensus on a land cover nomenclature for the European continent
• to develop a consistent classification methodology, based on NOAA-AVHRR data and ancillary data, suitable for mapping the land cover of the European continent
• to establish a Central Project Information Server (CPIES) and a meta-information system
• to arrive at a methodology for monitoring land cover changes at a European scale using NOAA-AVHRR data
• to apply the classification methodology to various regions of the European continent
• to apply the established land cover database in different environmental and climatic models

PELCOM focuses on land cover mapping and monitoring activities useful for European, national and international environmental agencies. End users are actively involved in this project; both dealing with the development of the methodology, and the applications. RIVM, ARCS and CNRM will apply the land cover database in various environmental and climatic models. One of the international end users is European Environmental Agency (EEA).

Some major conclusions and recommendations from the ETC-LC workshop, held in Copenhagen on 7th and 8th of November 1995, were:

• up-to-date and reliable information on land cover and land use are urgently needed for environmental studies on national, continental and global scales
• whereas the CORINE land cover database is unique, at the same time there is also a need for both more detailed and coarser LC information
• there is a need for shorter update frequencies, than is now the situation for CORINE, to enable the estimation of the actual situation of the environment at a certain moment

Methodology

The PELCOM project can be divided into three main phases. In phase 1 considerable preparatory work is required before a 1-km pan-European land cover database can be established. AVHRR data of the MARS archive of SAI of the Joint Research Institute will be point of departure. The database contains preprocessed daily 1-km resolution mosaics that cover a large part of Europe. SSC will pay special attention to the quality of composite pixels at higher latitudes. While CNRM will concentrate on the viewing geometry to reduce bidirectional effects.

Phases of the project

Phase 1: Development of a standard and consistent methodology for land cover mapping and monitoring at a continental scale.
Phase 2: Regional classification experiments
Phase 3: Case studies, concerning environmental and climatic applications.

The set-up of the nomenclature needs much attention, because it determines which land cover classes will be identified in the classification process. Hence, it will indirectly determine the usefulness of the NOAA-AVHRR derived land cover database. Concerning the nomenclature special attention will be paid to configuration with the classification scheme suggested by IGBP-DIS. In addition CESD-communautaire, responsible for Eurostat's remote sensing programme, will be involved. They initiated a highly relevant concerted action "Development of a harmonised framework for multi-purpose LULC information systems derived from earth observation data".

Proposed Nomenclature

Two different approaches towards land cover classification will be investigated. The first approach comprises a multi-temporal supervised classification for a number of multi-spectral images covering the growing season. The second approach contains an multi-temporal analysis of (NDVI) composites. In both approaches, the stratification method and types of ancillary data play an important role. In addition, the significance of the Linear Mixture Modelling technique for small scale land cover mapping will be investigated.

Dynamics in LULC are a.o. triggered by the CAP and privatisation in Eastern European countries. There is a widely recognized concern about the environmental and climatic impacts of LULC changes. Therefore, there is a need to monitor the European land cover. To realise this need it is relevant to distinguish the different temporal and spatial scales at which the processes of LULC operate. An outline will be written about how high and low resolution satellite data can be the optimally combined for detection of relevant land cover changes.

In phase 2 regional land cover experiments will be executed, based on the methodological research results of phase 1. The various partners will each handle a large region. Classification of Central and Eastern Europe is not foreseen in the project, however, fulfilment is intended to be realised through bi-lateral cooperation. In large international projects, data management and data integration need to be well defined and organised for efficient data and information exchange and usage. For that reason a central meta-information utility, in this case a World Wide Web server where meta-information can be maintained and consulted, has been established.

In phase 3 several case studies will be executed, concerning environmental modelling. Land cover datasets which result from the regional classification experiments will be used as input for several environmental models. If the outcomes of these models are satisfying this could lead to sustainable applications of Earth Observation data for environmental modelling on a European scale.

Case studies

Air pollution deposition modelling (RIVM)

Threatening of soils by nitrate leaching (RIVM)

Ecosystem modelling (RIVM)

Improvement of boundary conditions for meteorological models (CNRM)
 
 

More information on PELCOM can be obtained from Ir. G.J.A. Nieuwenhuis ( e­mail: nieuwenhuis@sc.dlo.nl; phone +31 317 47 43 19) or C.A. Mucher ( e­mail: mucher@sc.dlo.nl; phone +31 317 47 43 20). For general information about SC­DLO, please contact the Marketing and Public Relations Officer, B.J. van den Broek M.Sc. phone +31 317 47 44 89.

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Contents of project proposal:

Objectives

Ongoing research

List of acronyms

Addresses of participating institutes

For many environmental and agricultural studies on a National, Continental and a Global scale, up-to-date and reliable information on land cover and land use are urgently needed. The development of a sound environmental policy relies intensely on the outcome of environmental models, which themselves are significantly influenced by the areal and geographical accuracy of land cover and land use data. However, georeferenced land cover and land use databases with a high spatial accuracy that cover the entire European continent and that can be updated frequently for the purpose of change detection are not available.

The approach will assess the different methodologies to map and monitor the land cover of the European Continent using low resolution satellite data to arrive at a consistent methodology for the establishment and regular update of a 1-km Pan-European land cover database as an input for environmental impact studies and climate research. The participants will ensure coordination, and will exchange information as appropriate, with other EC projects concerned with land cover.

4 ONGOING PROJECTS AND PREVIOUS PROPOSALS

Recently land cover mapping experiments were performed by the participating partners applying NOAA-AVHRR satellite data. With support of the National Remote Sensing Programme (NRSP) in the Netherlands a cooperation with SSC, ARCS, the Institute for Geodesy and Cartography in Warsaw and F_MI in Budapest was established. The first results of these experiments show the applicability of low resolution satellite data like NOAA-AVHRR to monitor land cover on a regular base.

For the interpretation of NOAA-AVHRR satellite data, the integration with ancillary data is very important. Applying multi-source spatial data many technical and scientific difficulties need to be solved to obtain consistent and high quality land cover data on European scale. By exchange of experience, standardization of the classification methodology and used nomenclature can be realized. In this context initiatives of the European Topic Centre-Land Cover (ETC-LC) and the newly defined concerted action initiated by CESD Communautaire a.s.b.l., entitled 'Development of a harmonized framework for multi-purpose land cover / land use information systems derived from earth observation data' are highly relevant. Aim of this project is to specify the need and requirements for land cover / land use data relevant for various European policies. We will actively participate to the initiatives of ETC-LC and to the concerted action of CESD Communautaire a.s.b.l. to tune our final nomenclature and to standardize the classification methodology.

Also ongoing activities at the Institute for Remote Sensing Applications in Ispra (SAI, JRC) are highly relevant. Among others SAI initialized a project to monitor forest conditions at European scale. SAI is willing to make available their experience.

In the framework of the CORINE programme detailed information on land cover is collected for continental Europe. However, completion of this database will take several years, and due to the costliness the project does not foresee in monitoring on a regular basis in future. As far as available the CORINE land cover database will be used to generate training data and to validate the results as obtained with NOAA-AVHRR satellite data.

Realization of the land cover database for eastern Europe depends on bilateral cooperation with Russian and central European institutes. Cooperation with institutes in central Europe was established in the framework of NRSP, while recently a joint project was started with the Russian Institute for Land and Ecosystem Monitoring (RILEM), Moscow.

ARCS Austrian Research Centre Seibersdorf

AVHRR Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (of NOAA satellite)

CAP Common Agricultural Policy

CEOS Committee on Earth Observation Satellites

CNRM Centre National de Recherches Meteorologiques, Toulouse (France)

CORINE Coordination of Information on the Environment

EO Earth Observation

ETC-LC European Topic Centre Land Cover of the European Environmental Agency

EUROSTAT Statistical Office of the European Communities

FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation

FIRS Forest Inventory from Remote Sensing

GTOS Global Terrestrial Observing System

IGBP-DIS International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme- Data and Information System

SAI/JRC Space Applications Institute of the Joint Research Centre (Ispra, Italy)

ISBA Interaction entre le Sol, la Biosphere et L'Atmosphere

IUAV Instituto Universitario di Architettura (University of Venice)

MARS Monitoring Agriculture with Remote Sensing

NDVI Normalized Difference Vegetation Index

NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Washington (USA)

NRSP National Remote Sensing Programme of the Netherlands

RILEM Russian Institute of Land and Ecosystem Monitoring

RIVM National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection (Bilthoven, the Netherlands)

SC-DLO DLO Winand Staring Center (Wageningen, the Netherlands)

SSC Swedish Space Corporation (Stockholm, Sweden)

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