This metadata refer to the 'Corine Land Cover + Backbone' (CLC+ Backbone) which is a spatially detailed, large scale, Earth Observation-based land cover inventory. The CLC+ Backbone Raster Product is a 10m pixel-based land cover map based on Sentinel satellite time series from July 2017 to June 2019. For each pixel it shows the dominant land cover among the 11 basic land cover classes. Thematic pixel values: 1: Sealed 2: Woody – needle leaved trees 3: Woody – Broadleaved deciduous trees 4: Woody – Broadleaved evergreen trees 5: Low-growing woody plants (bushes, shrubs) 6: Permanent herbaceous 7: Periodically herbaceous 8: Lichens and mosses 9: Non- and sparsely-vegetated 10: Water 11: Snow and ice 254: outside area 255: No data The product has a three years update cycle and is available for the 2018 reference year.

The Copernicus High Resolution Forest Layer Tree Cover Change Mask (TCCM) 2015-2018 raster product provides information on the change between the reference years 2015 and 2018 and consists of 4 thematic classes (unchanged areas with no tree cover / new tree cover / loss of tree cover / unchanged areas with tree cover) at 20m spatial resolution and covers EEA38 area and the United Kingdom. The production of the High Resolution Forest layers was coordinated by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in the frame of the EU Copernicus programme. The High Resolution Forest product consists of three types of (status) products and additional change products. The status products are available for the 2012, 2015 and 2018 reference years: 1. Tree cover density providing level of tree cover density in a range from 0-100%; 2. Dominant leaf type providing information on the dominant leaf type: broadleaved or coniferous; 3. A Forest type product. The forest type product allows to get as close as possible to the FAO forest definition. In its original (20m) resolution it consists of two products: 1) a dominant leaf type product that has a MMU of 0.5 ha, as well as a 10% tree cover density threshold applied, and 2) a support layer that maps, based on the dominant leaf type product, trees under agricultural use and in urban context (derived from CLC and high resolution imperviousness 2009 data). For the final 100m product trees under agricultural use and urban context from the support layer are removed.

This metadata refers to the HRL Forest 2018 primary status layer Dominant Leaf Type (DLT). The DLT raster product provides a basic land cover classification with 3 thematic classes (all non-tree covered areas, broadleaved and coniferous) at 10m spatial resolution and covers the full of EEA38 area and the United Kingdom. The production of the High Resolution Forest layers was coordinated by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in the frame of the EU Copernicus programme. The HRL Forest product consists of 3 types of (status) products and additional change products. The status products are available for 2012, 2015, and 2018 reference years: 1. Tree cover density (TCD) (level of tree cover density in a range from 0-100%) 2. Dominant leaf type (DLT) (broadleaved or coniferous majority) 3. Forest type product (FTY). The forest type product allows to get as close as possible to the FAO forest definition. In its original (10m (2018) / 20m (2012, 2015)) resolution it consists of two products: a dominant leaf type product that has a MMU of 0.5 ha, as well as a 10% tree cover density threshold applied, and 2) a support layer that maps (now only available on demand), based on the dominant leaf type product, trees under agricultural use and in urban context (derived from CLC and imperviousness 2009 data). For the final 100 m product trees under agricultural use and urban context from the support layer are removed. NEW for 2018: the 10m 2018 reference year FTY product now also has the agricultural/urban trees removed. In the past this was done only for the 100m product, now it is consistently applied for both the 10m and the 100m FTY products. This dataset is provided as 10 meter rasters (fully conformant with the EEA reference grid) in 100 x 100 km tiles grouped according to the EEA38 countries and the United Kingdom. You can find more information about the product here: https://land.copernicus.eu/en/products/high-resolution-layer-dominant-leaf-type/dominant-leaf-type-2018.

The Copernicus Persistent Snow Area (PSA) product is generated annually for the entire EEA38 and the United Kingdom, based on the Fractional Snow Cover (FSC) information. It provides the extent of the persistent snow cover, i.e. the area where snow is present throughout the hydrological year with a spatial resolution of 20 m x 20 m. This metadata refers to the PSA product distributed in raster files as tiles aligned with Sentinel-2 (UTM/WGS84) at 20 m x 20 m GSD. It is also available in another projection as tiles aligned with the Pan-European High-Resolution Layers in the European 20 m x 20 m grid (ETRS89 LAEA - EPSG: 3035). It is typically released on an annual basis with a release date in October, after the end of the hydrological year. Each product is composed of two separate files corresponding to the different layers of the product, and another metadata file. PSA is one of the products of the pan-European High-Resolution Snow & Ice service (HR-S&I), which are provided at high spatial resolution (20 m x 20 m and 60 m x 60 m), from the Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-1 constellations data from September 1, 2016 onwards. You can read more about the PSA product here: https://land.copernicus.eu/en/products/snow/high-resolution-persistent-snow-area.

The High Resolution Layer (HRL) Forest Type (FTY) 2018 at 100 m spatial resolution is an aggregated version of the FTY layer at 10 m spatial reoslution, fully aligned with the EEA reference grid, and provides a forest classification with 3 thematic classes (all non-forest areas / broadleaved forest / coniferous forest). The dataset is provided as a full mosaic covering EEA38 countries and the United Kingdom. The production of the High Resolution forest layers was coordinated by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in the frame of the EU Copernicus programme. The high resolution forest product consists of three types of (status) products and additional change products. The status products are available for the 2012, 2015 and 2018 reference years: 1. Tree cover density providing level of tree cover density in a range from 0-100%; 2. Dominant leaf type providing information on the dominant leaf type: broadleaved or coniferous; 3. A Forest type product. The forest type product allows to get as close as possible to the FAO forest definition. In its original (20m) resolution it consists of two products: 1) a dominant leaf type product that has a MMU of 0.5 ha, as well as a 10% tree cover density threshold applied, and 2) a support layer that maps, based on the dominant leaf type product, trees under agricultural use and in urban context (derived from CLC and high resolution imperviousness 2009 data). For the final 100m product trees under agricultural use and urban context from the support layer are removed. The high resolution forest change products comprise a simple tree cover density change product for 2012-2015 (% increase or decrease of real tree cover density changes). You can find more information about the product here: https://land.copernicus.eu/en/products/high-resolution-layer-forest-type/forest-type-2018.

The Copernicus High Resolution Layer Water and Wetness (WAW) 2018 is a thematic product showing the occurrence of water and wet surfaces over the period from 2012 to 2018 for the EEA38 area and the United Kingdom. This metadata refers to the 100 meter aggregate raster, provided as a full EEA38 and United Kingdom mosaic (fully conformant to with the EEA reference grid). The production of the High Resolution Water and Wetness layers was coordinated by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in the frame of the EU Copernicus programme Two Water and Wetness products are available: - The main Water and Wetness (WAW) product, with defined classes of (1) permanent water, (2) temporary water, (3) permanent wetness and (4) temporary wetness. - The additional expert product: Water and Wetness Probability Index (WWPI). The products show the occurrence of water and indicate the degree of wetness in a physical sense, assessed independently of the actual vegetation cover and are thus not limited to a specific land cover class and their relative frequencies. You can read more about the product here: https://land.copernicus.eu/en/products/high-resolution-layer-water-and-wetness/water-and-wetness-status-2018.

The High Resolution Layer (HRL) Grassland Change 2015-2018 raster product at 20m resolution provides information on changes in grassland vegetation cover between the reference years 2015 and 2018. The thematic classes indicate all non-grassland areas, grassland gain and grassland loss, unchanged grassland in both years and unverified grassland gain and loss areas for the pan-European area of EEA38 and the United Kingdom. The production of the High Resolution grassland layers was coordinated by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in the frame of the EU Copernicus programme. This dataset is provided as 20 meter rasters in 100 x 100 km tiles grouped according to the EEA38 countries and the United Kingdom (fully conformant with the EEA reference grid). The HRL Grassland layer is the main High Resolution grassland product. This grassy and non-woody vegetation baseline product includes all kinds of grasslands: managed grassland, semi-natural grassland and natural grassy vegetation. It is a binary status layer for the 2015 reference year mapping grassland and all non-grassland areas in 20m and (aggregated) 100m pixel size and, for the 2018 reference year, in 10m and (aggregated) 100m pixel size. You can read more about the product here: https://land.copernicus.eu/en/products/high-resolution-layer-grassland/grassland-change-2015-2018.

The Copernicus High Resolution Forest Layer Tree Cover Change Mask (TCCM) 2012-2015 raster product provides information on the change between the reference years 2012 and 2015 and consists of 4 thematic classes (unchanged areas with no tree cover / new tree cover / loss of tree cover / unchanged areas with tree cover) at 20m spatial resolution and covers EEA38 area and the United Kingdom. The production of the High Resolution Forest layers was coordinated by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in the frame of the EU Copernicus programme. The High Resolution Forest product consists of three types of (status) products and additional change products. The status products are available for the 2012, 2015 and 2018 reference years: 1. Tree cover density providing level of tree cover density in a range from 0-100%; 2. Dominant leaf type providing information on the dominant leaf type: broadleaved or coniferous; 3. A Forest type product. The forest type product allows to get as close as possible to the FAO forest definition. In its original (20m) resolution it consists of two products: 1) a dominant leaf type product that has a MMU of 0.5 ha, as well as a 10% tree cover density threshold applied, and 2) a support layer that maps, based on the dominant leaf type product, trees under agricultural use and in urban context (derived from CLC and high resolution imperviousness 2009 data). For the final 100m product trees under agricultural use and urban context from the support layer are removed. You can read more about the product here: https://land.copernicus.eu/en/products/high-resolution-layer-tree-cover-density/tree-cover-change-mask-2012-2015.

The Copernicus High Resolution Water and Wetness (WAW) 2015 layer is a thematic product showing the occurrence of water and wet surfaces over the period from 2009 to 2015 for the EEA38 area and the United Kingdom . This metadata corresponds to the aggregation of the 20m classified product into a 100m raster. The production of the High Resolution Water and Wetness layers was coordinated by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in the frame of the EU Copernicus programme. Two WAW products are available: - The main Water and Wetness (WAW) product, with defined classes of (1) permanent water, (2) temporary water, (3) permanent wetness and (4) temporary wetness. - The additional expert product: Water and Wetness Probability Index (WWPI). The products show the occurrence of water and indicate the degree of wetness in a physical sense, assessed independently of the actual vegetation cover and are thus not limited to a specific land cover class and their relative frequencies. Data is provided as a mosaic of the full area, and as tiles with a side length of 1000 km x 1000 km. In 2020, due to methodological improvements, the temporary wet class has been reprocessed during the update for the 2018 reference year. You can read more about the product here: https://land.copernicus.eu/en/products/high-resolution-layer-water-and-wetness/water-and-wetness-status-2015.

Riparian zones represent transitional areas occurring between land and freshwater ecosystems, characterised by distinctive hydrology, soil and biotic conditions and strongly influenced by the stream water. They provide a wide range of riparian functions (e.g. chemical filtration, flood control, bank stabilization, aquatic life and riparian wildlife support, etc.) and ecosystem services. The Riparian Zones products support the objectives of several European legal acts and policy initiatives, such as the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, the Habitats and Birds Directives and the Water Framework Directive. This metadata refers to the Riparian Zones 2012 Land Cover/Land Use (LC/LU), which LC/LU classification is tailored to the needs of biodiversity monitoring in a variable buffer zone of selected rivers (Strahler levels 2-9 derived from EU-Hydro) for the reference year 2012. LC/LU is extracted from Very High Resolution (VHR) satellite data and other available data in a buffer zone of selected rivers for supporting biodiversity monitoring and mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services. The class definitions follow the pre-defined nomenclature on the basis of Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES) typology of ecosystems (Level 1 to Level 4) and CORINE Land Cover. The classification provides 55 distinct thematic classes with a Minimum Mapping Unit (MMU) of 0.5 ha and a Minimum Mapping Width (MMW) of 10 m. The nomenclature has been revised in 2020 with the aim to harmonize the products of the local components (mainly Riparian Zones and NATURA 2000 products) while maintaining user requirements for both products. A revised version of the Riparian Zones 2012 has been subsequently released in December 2021, together with the reference year 2018. The production of the Riparian Zones products was coordinated by the European Environment Agency in the frame of the EU Copernicus programme.