File Name Convention -------------------- The data sets in this directory are provided at three spatial resolutions of 0.25, 0.5 and 1 degrees lat./long. For each spatial resolution there is a land cover type classification layer (with numbers from 0 to 17), a classifier confidence assessment layer, in percent, and 17 associated layers that provide the fraction, from 0 to 100, of each land cover type per cell. The land cover type files are named "modis_landcover_class_XX.asc", where XX is qd, hd, or 1d, denoting a spatial resolution of 1/4, 1/2 or 1 degrees, respectively. The classifier confidence layer is named "modis_landcover_conf_XX.asc", where XX is the same as above. The fractional files are called "modis_landcover_XX_cZZ.asc", where XX is the same as above, and ZZ is a number from 00 to 17 which represents the land cover type code as described below. As an example, the file named "modis_landcover_qd_c02.asc" is the fraction of Evergreen Broadleaf Forest at a quarter degree spatial resolution. This file is associated with the "modis_landcover_class_qd.asc" land cover type file and the "modis_landcover_conf_qd.asc" classifier confidence file. ############################################################################## ASCII File Format ------------------ All of the files in the ISLSCP Initiative II data collection are in the ASCII, or text format. The file format consists of numerical fields of varying length, which are delimited by a single space and arranged in columns and rows. The values in the land cover class type and classifier confidence files are written as integers from 0 to 17 and 0 to 255, respectively. In the classifier confidence files a value of 254 is assigned to all water bodies while a value of 255 is assigned to cells with no data. All values in the land cover fraction files are written as real numbers. The files at different spatial resolutions each contain the following numbers of columns and rows: One degree: 360 columns by 180 rows 1/2 degree: 720 columns by 360 rows 1/4 degree: 1440 columns by 720 rows All files are gridded to a common equal-angle lat/long grid, where the coordinates of the upper left corner of the files are located at 180oW, 90oN and the lower right corner coordinates are located at 180oE, 90oS. Data in the files are ordered from North to South and from West to East beginning at 180 degrees West and 90 degrees North. ################################################################################ Land Cover Type Codes and Definitions ------------------------------------- The following 17 IGBP classes are used. 0 = Water Bodies: Oceans, seas, lakes, reservoirs, and rivers. Can be either fresh or salt water bodies. Note that this class has not been mapped directly from MODIS data in this provisional release. It is overlaid from a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) generated for the MODIS processing stream at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). This has been adjusted to match the ISLSCP II land/water masks. 1= Evergreen Needleleaf Forests: Lands dominated by trees with a percent canopy cover >60% and height exceeding 2 meters. Almost all trees remain green all year. Canopy is never without green foliage. 2= Evergreen Broadleaf Forests: Lands dominated by trees with percent canopy cover >60% and height exceeding 2 meters. Almost all trees remain green year all year. Canopy is never without green foliage. 3= Deciduous Needleleaf Forests: Lands dominated by trees with a percent canopy cover >60% and height exceeding 2 meters. Consists of seasonal needleleaf tree communities with an annual cycle of leaf-on and leaf-off periods. 4= Deciduous Broadleaf Forests: Lands dominated by trees with a percent canopy cover >60% and height exceeding 2 meters. Consists of seasonal broadleaf tree communities with an annual cycle of leaf-on and leaf-off periods. 5= Mixed Forests: Lands dominated by trees with a percent canopy cover >60% and height exceeding 2 meters. Consists of tree communities with interspersed mixtures or mosaics of the other four forest cover types. None of the forest types exceeds 60% of landscape. 6= Closed Shrublands: Lands with woody vegetation less than 2 meters tall and with shrub canopy cover is >60%. The shrub foliage can be either evergreen or deciduous. 7= Open Shrublands: Lands with woody vegetation less than 2 meters tall and with shrub canopy cover is between 10-60%. The shrub foliage can be either evergreen or deciduous. 8= Woody Savannas: Lands with herbaceous and other understory systems and forest canopy cover of 30-60%. The forest cover height exceeds 2 meters. 9= Savannas: Lands with herbaceous and other understory systems and forest canopy cover of 10-30%. The forest cover height exceeds 2 meters. 10=Grasslands: Lands with herbaceous types of cover. Tree and shrub cover is less than 10%. 11=Permanent Wetlands: Lands with a permanent mixture of surface water and herbaceous or woody vegetation. The vegetation can be present in either salt, brackish, or fresh water. 12=Croplands: Lands covered with temporary crops followed by harvest and a bare soil period (e.g., single and multiple cropping systems). Note that perennial woody crops will be classified as the appropriate forest or shrub land cover type. 13=Urban and Built-Up: Land primarily covered by buildings and other man-made structures. Note that this class has not been mapped directly from MODIS data in this provisional release. It is overlaid from the populated places layer from the EDC Global Land Cover Characterization project (GLCC, http://edcdaac.usgs.gov/glcc/glcc.html). 14=Cropland/Natural Vegetation Mosaic: Lands with a mosaic of croplands, forests, shrublands, and grasslands in which no one component comprises more than 60% of the landscape. 15=Permanent Snow and Ice: Lands under snow and/or ice cover throughout the year. 16=Barren or Sparsely Vegetated: Lands with exposed soil, sand, rocks, or snow that never has more than 10% vegetated cover during any time of the year. 17=Unclassified: Artifacts due to discrepancies between the EDC GLCC water mask and the JPL DEM. Found in coastal zones and mid-ocean islands in this provisional release.