EarthTrends (http://earthtrends.wri.org) Searchable Database Results Provided by the World Resources Institute (http://www.wri.org) "Forests, Grasslands and Drylands -- Ecosystem Area: Closed shrublands" "Units: Square kilometers" ,,1992-1993, World "World","",2636901, ,,1992-1993, Region/Classification "Asia (excluding Middle East)","",389600, "Central America & Caribbean","",12510, "Europe","",444583, "Middle East & North Africa","",180769, "North America","",651718, "Oceania","",15562, "South America","",470840, "Sub-Saharan Africa","",470029, "Developed Countries","",1113291, "Developing Countries","",1522320, ,,1992-1993, Country "Afghanistan","AFG",349, "Albania","ALB",355, "Algeria","DZA",62912, "American Samoa","ASM",0, "Andorra","AND",0, "Angola","AGO",0, "Antigua and Barbuda","ATG",0, "Argentina","ARG",227531, "Armenia","ARM",9, "Aruba","ABW",0, "Australia","AUS",19, "Austria","AUT",87, "Azerbaijan","AZE",1, "Bahamas","BHS",0, "Bahrain","BHR",0, "Bangladesh","BGD",1742, "Barbados","BRB",0, "Belarus","BLR",0, "Belgium","BEL",0, "Belize","BLZ",0, "Benin","BEN",9, "Bermuda","BMU",0, "Bhutan","BTN",89, "Bolivia","BOL",142, "Bosnia and Herzegovina","BIH",23, "Botswana","BWA",0, "Brazil","BRA",233215, "British Virgin Islands","VGB",0, "Brunei Darussalam","BRN",0, "Bulgaria","BGR",57, "Burkina Faso","BFA",0, "Burundi","BDI",1470, "Cambodia","KHM",3119, "Cameroon","CMR",23, "Canada","CAN",305164, "Cape Verde","CPV",0, "Cayman Islands","CYM",0, "Côte d'Ivoire","CIV",0, "Central African Rep","CAF",0, "Chad","TCD",73, "Chile","CHL",7282, "China","CHN",282831, "Colombia","COL",274, "Comoros","COM",35, "Congo","COG",0, "Congo, Dem Rep","COD",6864, "Cook Islands","COK",0, "Costa Rica","CRI",0, "Croatia","HRV",177, "Cuba","CUB",0, "Cyprus","CYP",93, "Czech Rep","CZE",0, "Denmark","DNK",0, "Djibouti","DJI",158, "Dominica","DMA",0, "Dominican Rep","DOM",0, "Ecuador","ECU",173, "Egypt","EGY",2492, "El Salvador","SLV",0, "Equatorial Guinea","GNQ",0, "Eritrea","ERI",1083, "Estonia","EST",2, "Ethiopia","ETH",176081, "Fiji","FJI",0, "Finland","FIN",12509, "France","FRA",2928, "French Guiana","GUF",17, "French Polynesia","PYF",0, "Gabon","GAB",0, "Gambia","GMB",95, "Georgia","GEO",70, "Germany","DEU",0, "Ghana","GHA",30, "Gibraltar","GIB",0, "Greece","GRC",14231, "Greenland","GRL",50, "Grenada","GRD",0, "Guadeloupe","GLP",13, "Guam","GUM",0, "Guatemala","GTM",5, "Guinea","GIN",125, "Guinea-Bissau","GNB",658, "Guyana","GUY",44, "Haiti","HTI",0, "Honduras","HND",0, "Hong Kong","HKG",0, "Hungary","HUN",0, "Iceland","ISL",21841, "India","IND",27243, "Indonesia","IDN",706, "Iran, Islamic Rep","IRN",94, "Iraq","IRQ",0, "Ireland","IRL",0, "Isle of Man","",0, "Israel","ISR",0, "Italy","ITA",41050, "Jamaica","JAM",0, "Japan","JPN",16926, "Jordan","JOR",0, "Kazakhstan","KAZ",10, "Kenya","KEN",125746, "Kiribati","KIR",0, "Korea, Dem People's Rep","PRK",9, "Korea, Rep","KOR",1187, "Kuwait","KWT",0, "Kyrgyzstan","KGZ",0, "Lao People's Dem Rep","LAO",1766, "Latvia","LVA",0, "Lebanon","LBN",0, "Lesotho","LSO",0, "Liberia","LBR",0, "Libyan Arab Jamahiriya","LBY",13004, "Liechtenstein","LIE",0, "Lithuania","LTU",0, "Luxembourg","LUX",0, "Macau","MAC",0, "Macedonia, FYR","MKD",6, "Madagascar","MDG",0, "Malawi","MWI",1013, "Malaysia","MYS",2573, "Maldives","MDV",0, "Mali","MLI",167, "Malta","MLT",0, "Marshall Islands","MHL",0, "Martinique","MTQ",0, "Mauritania","MRT",14, "Mauritius","MUS",0, "Mexico","MEX",12491, "Micronesia, Fed States","FSM",0, "Moldova, Rep","MDA",0, "Monaco","MCO",0, "Mongolia","MNG",0, "Morocco","MAR",75424, "Mozambique","MOZ",4072, "Myanmar","MMR",5215, "Namibia","NAM",0, "Nauru","NRU",0, "Nepal","NPL",9215, "Netherlands","NLD",0, "Netherlands Antilles","ANT",1, "New Caledonia","NCL",386, "New Zealand","NZL",0, "Nicaragua","NIC",0, "Niger","NER",5, "Nigeria","NGA",172, "Niue","NIU",0, "Northern Mariana Islands","MNP",2, "Norway","NOR",45421, "Oman","OMN",0, "Pakistan","PAK",10741, "Palau","PLW",1, "Palestinian Territories","",0, "Panama","PAN",0, "Papua New Guinea","PNG",12980, "Paraguay","PRY",4, "Peru","PER",57, "Philippines","PHL",85, "Poland","POL",0, "Portugal","PRT",17314, "Puerto Rico","PRI",0, "Qatar","QAT",0, "Réunion","REU",0, "Romania","ROU",0, "Russian Federation","RUS",217730, "Rwanda","RWA",3995, "Saint Helena","SHN",0, "Saint Kitts and Nevis","KNA",0, "Saint Pierre and Miquelon","SPM",0, "San Marino","SMR",7, "Sao Tome & Principe","STP",0, "Saudi Arabia","SAU",0, "Senegal","SEN",453, "Serbia and Montenegro","YUG",71, "Seychelles","SYC",0, "Sierra Leone","SLE",0, "Singapore","SGP",0, "Slovakia","SVK",2, "Slovenia","SVN",0, "Solomon Islands","SLB",2128, "Somalia","SOM",100713, "South Africa","ZAF",0, "Spain","ESP",51487, "Sri Lanka","LKA",694, "St. Lucia","LCA",0, "St. Vincent & Grenadines","VCT",0, "Sudan","SDN",7960, "Suriname","SUR",97, "Swaziland","SWZ",0, "Sweden","SWE",19208, "Switzerland","CHE",64, "Syrian Arab Rep","SYR",9, "Taiwan","TWN",378, "Tajikistan","TJK",0, "Tanzania","TZA",25077, "Thailand","THA",11662, "Togo","TGO",1, "Tonga","TON",0, "Trinidad and Tobago","TTO",0, "Tunisia","TUN",18835, "Turkey","TUR",7557, "Turkmenistan","TKM",0, "Turks and Caicos Islands","TCA",0, "Uganda","UGA",11368, "Ukraine","UKR",0, "United Arab Emirates","ARE",0, "United Kingdom","GBR",13, "United States","USA",346504, "Uruguay","URY",141, "Uzbekistan","UZB",5, "Vanuatu","VUT",46, "Venezuela","VEN",1863, "Viet Nam","VNM",13702, "Virgin Islands","VIR",0, "Western Sahara","",0, "Yemen","YEM",0, "Zambia","ZMB",2569, "Zimbabwe","ZWE",0, Footnotes No footnotes Source "Source: Loveland, T.R., Reed, B.C., J.F., Brown, J.F., Ohlen, D.O., Zhu, Z., Yang, L. Merchant. J. 2000. Global Land Cover Characteristics Database (GLCCD) Version 2.0. Available online at: http://edcdaac.usgs.gov/glcc/globdoc2_0.html." Technical Notes "Definition:" "Closed shrublands are lands with woody vegetation less than 2 meters tall and with shrub canopy cover greater than 60%. The shrub foliage can be either evergreen or deciduous. The classifications reported here are published using the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) definitions. Please consult the IGBP website (http://www.igbp.kva.se/) for further details. " "" "Closed shrublands area is the area, in hectares, of closed shrublands, as determined by the Global Land Cover Characteristics (GLCC) project. The project uses a framework of temporal and spatial patterns of satellite data, in conjunction with ancillary data, to assign a vegetation classification to each pixel. Please see the methodology section below for more on how the vegetative classifications are assigned." "" "Years Covered and Frequency of Update:" "The satellite data used to develop the Earth cover classifications were recorded over a 12-month period spanning from April 1992 to March 1993. The approach used to classify the satellite data into different land cover types was implemented and refined over the course of the following decade, with version 2.0 being released in 2001. " "" "Methodology:" "The GLCC describes the method used to classify vegetation types as a ""multitemporal unsupervised classification of NDVI data with post-classification refinement using multi-source earth science data."" NDVI data are a measure of ""greenness"" derived from satellite data. The satellite data in this study were from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), and have a resolution of 1 X 1 km. The other data sets employed were a digital elevation model to help model ecological factors that govern natural vegetation distribution, ecoregions data to help determine where vegetation would be stratified by seasonal impacts, and maps of soils, vegetation, and land cover to help with the post-classification refinement. " "" "The GLCC study was able to arrive at 18 classifications of vegetation and other land cover types using these data product through the following steps: " "1. AVHRR data preparation: In this step the daily satellite data are composited into one monthly value so as to provide higher-quality, cloud-free images. Masks are applied to screen out built-up areas, water bodies, permanent ice, and barren areas, all areas where NDVI is not a useful indicator of land cover type. " "2. Unsupervised classification: Those areas not screened out are classified using an automated classification approach called unsupervised clustering, often used where location and characteristics of specific classes are unknown. Groupings of pixels with similar properties, including annual sequences of greenup, peak, and senescence, are identified. The clustering is controlled by predetermined parameters for the number of iteration and resulting clusters. " "3. Preliminary Labeling: After clusters are determined, the characteristics of each are investigated to determine the land cover type or types fall within it. This involves inspecting the spatial patterns and spectral or multi-temporal statistics of each class. Statistics and graphs of each are generated and their relationship to existing ancillary data is described. The graphs and statistics are then interpreted and a land cover type or types are assigned to each class. Generally, three interpreters label each class. " "4. Postclassification Stratification: This step separates classes containing two or more disparate land cover types. This step is important because disparate land cover types, usually a natural and agricultural land cover types, are often clustered together due to spectral similarities. These problems are usually solved using criteria based on the relationship between the confused seasonal greenness classes and selected ancillary data sets. Elevation and ecoregion data are often the most useful ancillary data sets. " "5. Final Land Cover Characterization: The final step is to derive a collection of attributes that describe the characteristics of each seasonal land cover region. The classifications are then labeled according to various commonly-used schemes and published. WRI publishes the version labeled according to the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP). " "" "" "Please see the GLCC database website for more information about the data and approach. You may also download the data there for use with GIS software." "" "" "Data Reliability and Cautionary Notes:" "Following publication of the GLCC database, a number of scientific teams assessed the accuracy of the GLCC's approach by comparing the results with higher-resolution satellite imagery. These teams found that the accuracy of the GLCC's approach was, depending on the assessment approach, in a range from 60 to nearly 80 percent, meaning that the assessment teams' classification of a given area agreed with the GLCC's classification between 60 and 80 percent of the time. " "" "Given the relatively high level of potential for misclassification, the area of land in each classification should be treated as estimated rather than an exact interpretation of the earth's surface. "