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Full catalog/GFCC30SR
GFCC30SR·v001·dataset

Surface color for tracking forest change (30 m)

Global Forest Cover Change Surface Reflectance Estimates Multi-Year Global 30m V001
land NASA LPCLOUD Level 2 GeoTIFF
In plain English

What it measures. The true surface color (reflectance) of the land in the visible bands, corrected to remove atmospheric distortion, captured at several points in time around 1990, 2000, 2005, and 2010.

How it's made. Derived from Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 images at 30-meter resolution, chosen for the leafy peak growing season and corrected for atmospheric scattering and absorption.

How & where you'd use it. Serves as the source imagery for tracking forest cover change over decades; it is a building-block product that feeds other datasets in the forest-change collection.

What's measured

LAND SURFACE › SURFACE RADIATIVE PROPERTIES › REFLECTANCE

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span1984-03-12 → 2011-12-25
  • Measured byLANDSAT-7 (ETM+) · LANDSAT-5 (TM) · Terra (ASTER, MODIS)
  • Processing levelLevel 2
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsGeoTIFF
  • StatusCOMPLETE

What you can do with it

  • Track deforestation, fire scars and land-cover change
  • Monitor crop and vegetation health (NDVI/EVI)
  • Map how built-up vs. green an area is over time
Official description

The Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) archives and distributes Global Forest Cover Change (GFCC) data products through the NASA Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments ([MEaSUREs](https://earthdata.nasa.gov/about/competitive-programs/measures)) Program. The GFCC Surface Reflectance Estimates Multi-Year Global dataset is derived from the enhanced Global Land Survey (GLS) datasets for epochs centered on the years 1990, 2000, 2005, and 2010. The GLS datasets are composed of Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) and Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) images at 30 meter resolution. Data available for this product represent the best available "leaf-on" date during the peak growing season. The original GLS datasets were enhanced with supplemental Landsat images when data were incomplete for the epoch or inadequate for analysis due to acquisition during "leaf-off" seasons. The enhanced GLS data were acquired June 1984 through August 2011. Atmospheric corrections were applied to seven visible bands to estimate surface reflectance by compensating for the scattering and absorption of radiance by atmospheric conditions. GFCC30SR is a multi-file data product. The surface reflectance data products are used as source data for other datasets in the GFCC collection. For each available date, data files are delivered in a zip folder that consists of six surface reflectance bands, a Top of Atmosphere temperature band, an Atmospheric Opacity layer, and the Landsat Surface Reflectance Quality layer. Data follow the Worldwide Reference System-2 tiling scheme. Additional details regarding the methodology used to create the data are available in the Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD).

Get the data

gfcc30sr_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="GFCC30SR",
    version="001",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from LPCLOUD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.