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High resolution map of African tree cover

This dataset leverages high-resolution satellite imagery obtained from a nano-satellite constellation, accessible in the tropics through Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) programme. The primary goal of this dataset is to comprehensively map both forest and non-forest trees on a continental scale across Africa, surpassing the precision of previous endeavors in mapping woody vegetation at large scales.

Utilizing a machine learning approach, we employ 3 m PlanetScope satellite imagery to segment tree canopy cover across Africa, reaching the level of individual scattered trees. The dataset provides a detailed quantification of the contribution of trees located outside traditional forested areas to the overall tree cover within each country. Notably, at the continental scale, our analysis reveals that 29% of the total tree cover exists outside regions classified as forests in a contemporary state-of-the-art map based on Sentinel-2 10 m imagery. You can read the paper here

Citation

Reiner, F., Brandt, M., Tong, X. et al. More than one quarter of Africa’s tree cover is found outside areas previously
classified as forest. Nat Commun 14, 2258 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37880-4

Dataset citation

Reiner, F., Brandt, M., Tong, X., Skole, D., Kariryaa, A., Ciais, P., Davies, A., Hiernaux, P., Chave, J., Mugabowindekwe, M.,
Igel, C., Oehmcke, S., Gieseke, F., Li, S., Liu, S., Saatchi, S., Boucher, P., Singh, J., Taugourdeau, S., … Fensholt, R.
(2023). Africa tree cover map [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7764460

af_treecover-small

Earth Engine Snippet

var tree_cover = ee.Image("projects/sat-io/open-datasets/PS_AFRICA_TREECOVER_2019_100m_V10")

Sample code: https://code.earthengine.google.com/?scriptPath=users/sat-io/awesome-gee-catalog-examples:agriculture-vegetation-forestry/PS-AFRICA-TREECOVER

License

This tree cover map is made freely available for non-commercial purposes. All usage of the data must be attributed and should be cited with the paper citation. Please see the NICFI license for full terms of usage, available here

Provided by: Reiner et al

Curated in GEE by: Samapriya Roy

Keywords: Africa, NICFI, Planet, Tree cover, Land cover

Last updated in GEE: 2024-01-18

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