Satellite images for land cover monitoring - Navigating through the maze

Policy makers, managers, scientists and the public can view the changing environment using satellite images.  More than 60 Earth observing satellites are collecting images of the Earth's surface. Remote sensing satellite systems for land cover assessment are operated by a growing number of countries including India, the United States, Japan, France, Canada and Russia.

The focus of this publication is satellite systems for land cover monitoring. On the reverse is a table that compares a selection of these systems, whose data are globally available in a form suitable for land cover analysis. We hope the information presented will help you assess the utility of remotely sensed image to meet your needs.