Land cover

Refers to the observed (bio) physical cover of the Earth's surface. The main classes in the LUCAS land cover nomenclature are as follows: 

Various biophysical categories can be distinguished: 

• areas of vegetation (trees, bushes, crops, grasses, herbs); 
• artificialland (buildings, roads); 
• baresoil (rock, sand); 
• wet areas and bodies of water (sheets of water and watercourses, wetlands). 

Land cover corresponds to the physical coverage of the earth’s surface. Land cover can be observed in many ways, e.g. by field visits, aerial photographs or satellite sensors.

Eurostat b, Glossary, accessed 08 January 2024

Source category: EC Technical Documents

It corresponds to a physical description of space, the observed (bio) physical cover of the earth's surface. It is that which overlays or currently covers the ground. This description enables various biophysical categories to be distinguished - basically, areas of vegetation (trees, bushes, fields, lawns), bare soil (even if this is a lack of cover), hard surfaces (rocks, buildings) and wet areas and bodies of water (sheets of water and watercourses, wetlands). This definition has impacts on development of classification systems, data collection and information systems in general. It is said that Land Cover is "observed". This means that observation can be made from various "sources of observation" at different distances between the source and the earth's surface: the human eye, aerial photographs, satellite sensors.

Source category: EC Technical Documents