Living Land

[

] 128

such as bush encroachment, a major rangeland problem in

south-west Africa (see case study).

Partnering with international financing institutions for

sustainable land practices in developing countries

Since 2008, ESA has taken important steps to showcase the

potential of satellite observations to support sustainable devel-

opment initiatives in developing countries by international

financing institutions (IFIs) and multilateral development

banks such as the World Bank, the United Nations International

Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and recently the

Asian Development Bank and the Global Environment Facility.

EOmethods have proven to be important tools for the sustaina-

ble management of lands in water-scarce environments: assessing

land productivity, detecting decreased productivity due to diseases

or reduction of water; mapping crop areas and types, estimating

the conversion of natural resources into agricultural lands and

assessing impact such as degradation of ecosystems; collecting

statistics on crop production, providing yield estimations using

agrometeorological modelling; estimating land suitability for

optimum land use, reducing risks such as soil erosion; helping

management of water resources, monitoring availability of surface

waters and estimating water needs and use for irrigated crops;

supporting climate resilience and adaptation strategies and assess-

ing impact of climate change on natural resources.

A joint ESA-IFAD project developed a Land Erosion Risk

indicator in Niger, which together with information on land

use changes allowed the assessment of agricultural practices,

Case study: Global land cover mapping

The ESA CCI has produced a three-epoch series of global land cover maps at 300 m resolution (2000, 2005 and 2010). The land cover maps follow a

legend based on the United Nations Land Cover Classification System with 22 high-level classes for global use and 14 subclasses for regional adaptation.

Source: ESA CCI Land Cover project/Université Catholique de Louvain

The 2010 Global Land Cover map

Mosaic cropland/vegetation

Mosaic vegetation/cropland

Tree needleleaved evergreen

Cropland irrigated/post-flooding

Cropland, rainfed

Tree needleleaved deciduous

Tree mixed leaf type

Tree broadleaved deciduous

Tree broadleaved evergreen

Mosaic tree, Shrub/HC

Mosaic HC/tree, shrub

Grassland

Lichens and mosses

Shrubland

Sparse vegetation

Tree flooded, fresh water

Tree flooded, saline water

Shrub or herbacaous flooded

Bare areas

Water bodies

Permanent snow and ice

Urban areas

Mosaic cropland/v getation

Mosaic

/cropland

Tree needl le ved evergre n

C opland irrigated/post-flooding

Cropland, rainfed

Tree eedleleaved deciduous

Tre mixed leaf type

br adleaved deciduous

br adleav d evergreen

Mosaic tre , Shrub/HC