An analysis of IGBP global land-cover characterization process

The international Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP) has called for the development of improved global land-cover data for use in increasingly sophisticated global environmental models. To meet this need, the staff of the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln developed and applied a global land-cover characterization methodology using 1992-1993 1-km resolution Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and other spatial data. The methodology, based on unsupervised classification with extensive postclassification refinement, yielded a multi-layer database consisting of eight land-cover data sets, descriptive attributes, and source data. An independent IGBP accuracy assessment reports a global accuracy of 73.5 percent, and continental results vary from 63 percent to 83 percent. Although data quality, methodology, interpreter performance, and logistics affected the results, significant problems were associated with the relationship between AVHRR data and fine-scale, spectrally similar land-cover patterns in complex natural or disturbed landscapes.