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Global Forest Change (GFC) 2000–2023 — GFC-2023-v1.11
Global Forest Change (GFC) provides results from time-series analysis of Landsat imagery to characterize global forest extent and change from 2000 through 2023. The direct-download package is organized as 10×10 degree GeoTIFF tiles at ~30 m resolution (1 arc-second per pixel). Core layers include: tree canopy cover for year 2000 (percent canopy closure for vegetation >5 m), forest gain (2000–2012), year of gross forest cover loss (coded by loss year for 2001–2023), a data mask for land/water/no-data, and reference Landsat cloud-free composites for the first and last available years (typically ~2000 and ~2023) in red, NIR, SWIR1, and SWIR2 bands. Version 1.11 adds 2023 loss-year updates and updated multispectral imagery and includes methodological updates (including Landsat 8/9 use and reprocessing from 2011 onward).
Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) Laboratory, University of Maryland
Tree canopy cover for year 2000, defined as canopy closure for vegetation taller than 5 m.
Global (granules provided for 180W–180E, 80N–60S)
Approx. 30 m (1 arc-second per pixel; Earth Engine catalog lists ~30.92 m pixel size).
Year of gross forest cover loss event; 0 indicates no loss and 1-23 correspond primarily to 2001-2023.
Data mask classes for no data, mapped land surface, and persistent water bodies.
Circa year-2000 Landsat cloud-free composite in red, NIR, SWIR1, and SWIR2 bands.
Circa year-2023 Landsat cloud-free composite in red, NIR, SWIR1, and SWIR2 bands.
Derived indicator for pixels where lossyear is greater than 0.
Time-series analysis of Landsat imagery to map forest extent and change
Change detection for stand-replacement disturbance (forest to non-forest)
Annual updating of loss-year and reference imagery layers
Direct download page (tile selection map and links)
Interactive download instructions and example granule URLs for 10×10 degree GeoTIFF tiles.
Example GeoTIFF granule for tree canopy cover in year 2000; filenames encode the tile top-left corner.
Example tile (first composite) — 40N 080W
Example tile (last composite) — 40N 080W
Text file listing URLs for all granules for the treecover2000 layer.
Analyze the dataset directly in Google Earth Engine using asset ID UMD/hansen/global_forest_change_2023_v1_11.
Web visualization (recommended linking URL)
Interactive visualization site recommended by the dataset providers for linking/citation.
High-Resolution Global Maps of 21st-Century Forest Cover Change