陶 et al. (2026) A global 60 m land cover dataset with a fine classification system for 1975 and 1980 derived from Landsat MSS observations

Identification

• Journal: Scientific Data
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-28
• Authors: 艾维 陶, Xiao Zhang, Cheng Wang, Fuquan Tang, Tingting Zhao, Wenhan Zhang, Liangyun Liu
• DOI: 10.1038/s41597-026-08368-9

Research Groups

• College of Geomatics, Xi'an University of Science and Technology
• International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals
• Key Laboratory of Digital Earth Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences
• University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
• School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University
• School of Remote Sensing, Beijing Normal University

Short Summary

This study presents GLC_FCS60, a global 60 m land cover dataset with a fine classification system for 1975 and 1980 derived from Landsat Multispectral Scanner (MSS) observations. The dataset fills the critical gap in global land cover observations prior to the mid-1980s.

Objective

• Investigate long-term land cover dynamics using historical satellite data
• Develop an automated framework for generating globally consistent land cover products from early satellite observations

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global, with a spatial resolution of 60 m
• Temporal Scale: 1975 and 1980, with a focus on the pre-TM era

Methodology and Data

• Models used:
  • Improved Comprehensive Change Detection Method (CCDM)
  • Multi-Index Integrated Change Analysis (MIICA) model
  • Zone change detection model
  • Random Forest classification
• Data sources:
  • Landsat MSS archives
  • GLC_FCS30D product
  • ASTER GDEM data

Main Results

• The accuracy of the 1975 and 1980 land cover maps was evaluated using a global validation dataset, with overall accuracies of 80.13% and 71.60%, respectively.
• The study demonstrated that the improved CCDM can effectively identify changed pixels between 1975/1980 and 1985, achieving an accuracy of 78.61%.
• The GLC_FCS60 dataset provides a valuable baseline for investigating long-term land cover dynamics from the mid-1970s to the present.

Contributions

• This study fills a critical gap in global land cover observations prior to the mid-1980s.
• The improved CCDM and local adaptive classification approach enable accurate land cover mapping from early satellite data.
• The GLC_FCS60 dataset provides a valuable resource for researchers studying long-term land cover dynamics.

Funding

• This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41531180).
• The study also received funding from the Key Research and Development Program of Shaanxi Province (Grant No. 2020GY-065).

Citation

@article{陶2026global,
  author = {陶, 艾维 and Zhang, Xiao and Wang, Cheng and Tang, Fuquan and Zhao, Tingting and Zhang, Wenhan and Liu, Liangyun},
  title = {A global 60 m land cover dataset with a fine classification system for 1975 and 1980 derived from Landsat MSS observations},
  journal = {Scientific Data},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1038/s41597-026-08368-9},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-026-08368-9}
}