N2K Change 2012-2018 (vector), Europe, 6-yearly, Jul. 2021

This metadata refers to the CLMS N2K Change 2012-2018 product, the Copernicus Land Cover/Land Use (LC/LU) change map tailored to the needs of biodiversity monitoring in selected Natura2000 sites: 4790 sites of natural and semi-natural grassland formations listed in Annex I of the Habitats Directive, including a 2km buffer zone surrounding the sites. The change mapping exercise between the reference years 2012 and 2018, was based on the comparison of VHR satellite data and occurred over an area of 631.800 km² across Europe (i.e. EU27, the United Kingdom and Switzerland). The change dataset only shows the areas that have changed between 2012 and 2018 and covers an area of 1.199.652 ha. LC/LU is extracted from VHR satellite data and other available data. Change detection is based on the analysis of VHR satellite data from the reference years 2012 ±2 years and 2018 ±1 year. The production of N2K updates was coordinated by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in the frame of the EU Copernicus programme.