How the world's salt marshes changed (2000-2019) — Global_Salt_Marsh_Change_2122

In plain English

What it measures. Maps showing where the world's salt marshes were lost or gained, in five-year steps from 2000 to 2019, at about 30 m detail.

How it's made. Created by tracking changes in plant greenness (a vegetation index) in Landsat 5, 7, and 8 satellite imagery within known salt-marsh areas.

How & where you'd use it. Helps researchers and coastal managers see where these valuable wetlands are shrinking or recovering over time.

What's measured

LAND SURFACE › GEOMORPHIC LANDFORMS/PROCESSES › COASTAL LANDFORMS › SALT MARSHBIOSPHERE › ECOSYSTEMS › MARINE ECOSYSTEMS › COASTALSOLID EARTH › GEOMORPHIC LANDFORMS/PROCESSES › COASTAL LANDFORMS › SALT MARSH

Coverage & cadence

Time span2000-01-01 → 2019-12-31
Measured byLANDSAT-5 (ETM+) · LANDSAT-7 (ETM+) · LANDSAT-8 (OLI)
Processing levelLevel 3
Spatial extent-170, -47, 180, 74
FormatsCOG
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

This dataset provides global salt marsh change, including loss and gain for five-year periods from 2000-2019. Loss and gain at a 30 m spatial resolution were estimated with Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) anomaly algorithm using Landsat 5, 7, and 8 collections within the known extent of salt marshes. The data are provided in cloud-optimized GeoTIFF format.

Get the data

global_salt_marsh_change_2122_access.py

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

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="Global_Salt_Marsh_Change_2122",
    version="1",
    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 ORNL_CLOUD

Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.

Official links

Earthdata Search allows users to search, discover, visualize, refine, and access NASA Earth Observation data. GET DATA
ORNL DAAC Data Set Documentation VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
Global Salt Marsh Change, 2000-2019: Global_Salt_Marsh_Change.pdf VIEW RELATED INFORMATION