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Full catalog/clms_vlcc_tree-cover-presence-change_europe_20m_3yearly_v1
clms_vlcc_tree-cover-presence-change_europe_20m_3yearly_v1·dataset

Where Europe gained or lost tree cover (Copernicus)

CLMS VLCC Tree Cover Presence Change (TCPC) Europe 20m 3-yearly V1
biosphere ESA ESA Copernicus active
In plain English

What it measures. Sorts the landscape into four simple categories between two reference years: still no trees, newly grown trees, lost trees, and still-forested areas.

How it's made. Generated every three years at 20-metre resolution by the EU's Copernicus Land Monitoring Service, covering 38 European countries and French overseas departments.

How & where you'd use it. A clear way to spot deforestation, reforestation, and forest stability over time, valuable for environmental reporting, policy, and conservation.

What's measured

CLMSCopernicusEuropeRasterLand coverLand useTree cover densityForestTree coverTCD

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2018-01-01 → ongoing
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90

What you can do with it

  • Map vegetation, forests and biomass
  • Monitor ecosystem productivity and carbon
  • Support habitat and biodiversity studies
Official description

The High Resolution Layer Tree Cover Presense Change (TCPC) dataset provides information on the change between the reference years and consists of 4 thematic classes (unchanged areas with no tree cover / new tree cover / loss of tree cover / unchanged areas with tree cover). The class 255 = outside area is predefined by the 100m boundary layer and remains unchanged. This layer for previous reference year compraissions is called Tree Cover Change Mask (TCCM). This dataset is provided at 20 meter spatial resolution (fully conformant with the EEA reference grid) in 100 x 100 km tiles covering the EEA38 countries. High Resolution Layer Tree Cover Presense Change product is part of the European Union’s Copernicus Land Monitoring Service. This dataset includes data from the French Overseas Territories (DOMs).

Get the data

copernicus_access.py
# ESA Copernicus Data Space — open STAC API (free account)
from pystac_client import Client

cat = Client.open("https://stac.dataspace.copernicus.eu/v1")
search = cat.search(
    collections=["clms_vlcc_tree-cover-presence-change_europe_20m_3yearly_v1"],   # add _cog or _nc for a format variant
    bbox=(-10, 35, 30, 60),             # your area (W,S,E,N)
    datetime="2024-01-01/2024-12-31",
)
items = list(search.items())            # then read assets with rioxarray / xarray
Browsing the Copernicus STAC is open; downloading bytes needs a free Copernicus Data Space account.