Land Cover for Climate
LC4Climate
GFOI Capacity Building Summit
Jean Parcher
Project Manager
U.S. Department of the Interior,
International Technical Assistance Program (IITAP)
Jean_parcher@ios.doi.gov
GFOI Capacity Building Summit
Armenia, Colombia – September 17 to
19, 2014
International Technical Assistance Program
U.S. Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior (DOI)
National Park Service
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Bureau of Land Management
Bureau of Indian Affairs
U.S. Geological Survey
Bureau of Reclamation
Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement
Office of Natural Resources Revenue
Land Cover for Climate
LC4Climate
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Funding from USAID Global Climate Change program
Focus on Africa and SE Asia
Earth Observations Land Cover Capacity Building
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Build capacity to generate 30 meter resolution land cover
data from Landsat imagery
Host regional and national capacity training on
interpreting, and utilizing land cover data for climate
change reporting requirements (GHG, UNREDD+, LEDS).
Incorporate National and Regional Databases into
high-resolution Global Land Cover Databases
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Facilitate participation of local expertise for enhancing
global land cover initiatives
GFOI Capacity Building Summit
Armenia, Colombia – September 17 to
19, 2014
LC4Climate Scope
LC4Climate is partnering with ongoing initiatives in
Africa and Southeast Asia to:
• Conduct technology assessment of existing land
cover datasets
• Improve and apply appropriate methodology for
local needs
• Host regional and national capacity building activities
• Facilitate participation of local expertise for
enhancing global land cover initiatives
GFOI Capacity Building Summit
Armenia, Colombia – September 17 to
19, 2014
Activities – Africa
Continental Wide Coordiation
• International Global Land Cover Workshop for Africa
• Co-hosted with RCMRD, UNEP, and Tsinghua Univ., June 25-27th, 2013
Nairobi, Kenya.
– Released Final Statement
– Over 100 participants both from Africa, Europe, Asia, and US
• GEO Working Group on Land Cover Mapping for Africa
– Executive Board Chair Dr. Hussein Farah, Eastern Africa
– Executive Board Representatives from Northern Africa, Southern Africa,
Indian Ocean, Central Africa, and Western Africa
• Major Tasks:
Inventory of Land Cover datasets
Applied for EC Horizon 2020 Grant for Coordination Activities
–
Launching of Technical Advisory Group at GEO Plenary in Gabon, Nov 2014
Includes African and International experts
GFOI Capacity Building Summit
Armenia, Colombia – September 17 to
19, 2014
Activities - Africa
Regional Coordination
– Eastern Africa participatory workshop to evaluate
USGS 30 meter land cover dataset in cooperation
with RCMRD (March 2014)
– Technical exchange with USGS EROS, South Africa
CSIR , RCMRD, Univ. of Maryland, to improve
image processing methodology and land cover
change processes (July 2014)
GFOI Capacity Building Summit
Armenia, Colombia – September 17 to
19, 2014
Eastern and Southern 30M Land Cover
South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi,
Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland,
Lesotho, and Kenya
(1) Closed Forest, (2) Open Forest, (3) Shrub
lands, (4) Grasslands, (5) Croplands, (6)
Barren, (7) Wetlands, and (8) Water Bodies
National Activities:
Land Cover in
Malawi
(March 2014)
Assessment of Land
Cover Mapping in
Malawi
Existing Data and
Institutional Factors
Final Report
Tom Miewald (USFWS)
and Phoebe Oduour
(RCRMD)
Planned Activities - Africa
• West Africa Land Cover Change Evaluation workshop
– In cooperation with AGRYMET, USGS, and UNFCCC GHG BUR Forestry and
Landuse Focal points (Burkina Faso –Fall 2014)
– USGS 30 meter resolution Land Cover Evaluation WS for Ivory Coast using
Landsat 8
• GEO Working Group on Land Cover for Africa
– Technical Advisory Group meeting – Libreville, Gabon ( Nov 2014)
• Lake Victoria Basin Regional Land Cover Workshop
– In cooperation with East Africa PREPARED Initiative, RCMRD, FEWSNET,
USGS (January 2015)
– East Africa countries – Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi
 National Capacity Building workshops - Malawi, Mozambique?
GFOI Capacity Building Summit
Armenia, Colombia – September 17 to
19, 2014
Activities- Southeast Asia
• Southeast Asia – Regional 2013
– Mekong River Commission (MRC)
• “ Symposium on Applying Earth Observation Satellite
Data to Monitor Land Cover Change in the Mekong
Basin”, Phnom Penh, August 20-21, 2013
• “Technical training using the USGS Global Land Cover
methodology, software and tools for Land cover
mapping of the Mekong Basin” , Phnom Penh, August
22nd – 29th, 2013
– 24 students from Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia
GFOI Capacity Building Summit
Armenia, Colombia – September 17 to
19, 2014
Activities- Southeast Asia
• Regional
– Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) Working
Group Technical Workshop on Integrating Forestry, Wetlands
and other Land Use/Land Cover Data for Greenhouse Gas
reporting (Jakarta, August 2014)
• In cooperation with Silva Carbon, EPA, and LEADS
• Participating countries – Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Laos,
Cambodia, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh
• Final report describes capacity training needs (in review)
• Vietnam
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Co-hosted with MONRE, Vietnam and Wageningen University,
Remote Sensing (Optical and Radar) and Land Cover change
training, December 2013, Hanoi
GFOI Capacity Building Summit
Armenia, Colombia – September 17 to
19, 2014
Planned Activities South East Asia
• Regional 30 meter Land Cover base map in
collaboration with USGS, Asian Development
Bank, and MRC
• In coordination with Silva Carbon, address
outcome of Jakarta WS capacity training needs:
– Facilitate participatory WS to build multi- institutional
collaboration for land cover mapping
– Advanced remote sensing land cover techncial
workshops
• Co-host Remote Sensing and Land Cover
workshops with the new USAID SERVIR hub
GFOI Capacity Building Summit
Armenia, Colombia – September 17 to
19, 2014
Opportunities & Challenges
• Build integrated partnerships with UNFCCC, GEO
- GFOI & Global Land Cover, Silva Carbon, GOFCGOLD, FAO, REDD, JICA to coordinate remote
sensing, land cover capacity training needs
• Build regional partnerships such as USAID/NASA
SERVIR hubs to support their RS and LC needs
• Understanding differences in class definitions for
land cover, forest cover, agricultural statistics,etc
at country, regional, and global levels
GFOI Capacity Building Summit
Armenia, Colombia – September 17 to
19, 2014
Needs for Implementing
Capacity Training
• Build institutional structures within regions and
countries to design sustainable and collaborative
land cover mapping change systems
• Provide appropriate level of capacity training
that can be sustained for long term
• Integrate 30 meter global land cover with
regional and country level data
• Provide needed satellite imagery for land cover
change products
GFOI Capacity Building Summit
Armenia, Colombia – September 17 to
19, 2014