High Resolution land cover characteristics for the 2018 reference year. Small woody landscape features are important vectors of biodiversity and provide information on fragmentation of habitats with a direct potential for restoration while also providing a link to hazard protection and green infrastructure, amongst others. VHR_IMAGE_2018 made available in the ESA Copernicus DWH will be the main data source for the detection of small woody features identifiable within the given image resolution. The Small Woody Features (SWFs) layer contains woody linear and patchy elements but will not be further differentiated into trees, hedges, bushes and scrub. The spatial pattern shall be limited to linear structures and isolated patches on the basis of geometric characteristics.

Corine Land Cover 2000 (CLC2000) is one of the datasets produced within the frame the Corine Land Cover programme referring to land cover / land use status of year 2000. The Corine Land Cover (CLC) is a European programme, coordinated by the European Environment Agency (EEA), providing consistent and thematically detailed information on land cover and land cover changes across Europe. CLC products are based on the classification of satellite images by the national teams of the participating countries - the EEA member and cooperating countries (EEA39). National CLC inventories are further integrated into a seamless land cover map of Europe. The resulting European database relies on standard methodology and nomenclature with following base parameters: 44 classes in the hierarchical 3-level CLC nomenclature; minimum mapping unit (MMU) for status layers is 25 hectares; minimum width of linear elements is 100 metres. Change layers have higher resolution, i.e. minimum mapping unit (MMU) is 5 hectares for Land Cover Changes (LCC), and the minimum width of linear elements is 100 metres. The CLC programme provides important data sets supporting the implementation of key priority areas of the Environment Action Programmes of the European Community as e.g. protecting ecosystems, halting the loss of biological diversity, tracking the impacts of climate change, monitoring urban land take, assessing developments in agriculture and implementing the EU Water Framework Directive. The CLC programme is a part of the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (https://land.copernicus.eu/) run by the European Commission and the European Environment Agency, which provides environmental information from a combination of air- and space-based observation systems and in-situ monitoring. Additional information about CLC (product description, mapping guides and class descriptions) can be found here: https://land.copernicus.eu/user-corner/technical-library/.

Corine Land Cover 2012 (CLC2012) is one of the Corine Land Cover (CLC) datasets produced within the frame the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service referring to land cover / land use status of year 2012. CLC service has a long-time heritage (formerly known as "CORINE Land Cover Programme"), coordinated by the European Environment Agency (EEA). It provides consistent and thematically detailed information on land cover and land cover changes across Europe. CLC datasets are based on the classification of satellite images produced by the national teams of the participating countries - the EEA members and cooperating countries (EEA39). National CLC inventories are then further integrated into a seamless land cover map of Europe. The resulting European database relies on standard methodology and nomenclature with following base parameters: 44 classes in the hierarchical 3-level CLC nomenclature; minimum mapping unit (MMU) for status layers is 25 hectares; minimum width of linear elements is 100 metres. Change layers have higher resolution, i.e. minimum mapping unit (MMU) is 5 hectares for Land Cover Changes (LCC), and the minimum width of linear elements is 100 metres. The CLC service delivers important data sets supporting the implementation of key priority areas of the Environment Action Programmes of the European Union as e.g. protecting ecosystems, halting the loss of biological diversity, tracking the impacts of climate change, monitoring urban land take, assessing developments in agriculture or dealing with water resources directives. CLC belongs to the Pan-European component of the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (https://land.copernicus.eu/), part of the European Copernicus Programme coordinated by the European Environment Agency, providing environmental information from a combination of air- and space-based observation systems and in-situ monitoring. Additional information about CLC product description including mapping guides can be found at https://land.copernicus.eu/user-corner/technical-library/. CLC class descriptions can be found at https://land.copernicus.eu/user-corner/technical-library/corine-land-cover-nomenclature-guidelines/html/.

Corine Land Cover Change 2012-2018 (CHA1218) is one of the Corine Land Cover (CLC) datasets produced within the frame the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service referring to changes in land cover / land use status between the years 2012 and 2018. CLC service has a long-time heritage (formerly known as "CORINE Land Cover Programme"), coordinated by the European Environment Agency (EEA). It provides consistent and thematically detailed information on land cover and land cover changes across Europe. CLC datasets are based on the classification of satellite images produced by the national teams of the participating countries - the EEA members and cooperating countries (EEA39). National CLC inventories are then further integrated into a seamless land cover map of Europe. The resulting European database relies on standard methodology and nomenclature with following base parameters: 44 classes in the hierarchical 3-level CLC nomenclature; minimum mapping unit (MMU) for status layers is 25 hectares; minimum width of linear elements is 100 metres. Change layers have higher resolution, i.e. minimum mapping unit (MMU) is 5 hectares for Land Cover Changes (CHA), and the minimum width of linear elements is 100 metres. The CLC service delivers important data sets supporting the implementation of key priority areas of the Environment Action Programmes of the European Union as e.g. protecting ecosystems, halting the loss of biological diversity, tracking the impacts of climate change, monitoring urban land take, assessing developments in agriculture or dealing with water resources directives. CLC belongs to the Pan-European component of the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (https://land.copernicus.eu/), part of the European Copernicus Programme coordinated by the European Environment Agency, providing environmental information from a combination of air- and space-based observation systems and in-situ monitoring. Additional information about CLC product description including mapping guides can be found at https://land.copernicus.eu/user-corner/technical-library/. CLC class descriptions can be found at https://land.copernicus.eu/user-corner/technical-library/corine-land-cover-nomenclature-guidelines/html/.

Corine Land Cover Change 2012-2018 (CHA1218) is one of the Corine Land Cover (CLC) datasets produced within the frame the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service referring to changes in land cover / land use status between the years 2012 and 2018. CLC service has a long-time heritage (formerly known as "CORINE Land Cover Programme"), coordinated by the European Environment Agency (EEA). It provides consistent and thematically detailed information on land cover and land cover changes across Europe. CLC datasets are based on the classification of satellite images produced by the national teams of the participating countries - the EEA members and cooperating countries (EEA39). National CLC inventories are then further integrated into a seamless land cover map of Europe. The resulting European database relies on standard methodology and nomenclature with following base parameters: 44 classes in the hierarchical 3-level CLC nomenclature; minimum mapping unit (MMU) for status layers is 25 hectares; minimum width of linear elements is 100 metres. Change layers have higher resolution, i.e. minimum mapping unit (MMU) is 5 hectares for Land Cover Changes (CHA), and the minimum width of linear elements is 100 metres. The CLC service delivers important data sets supporting the implementation of key priority areas of the Environment Action Programmes of the European Union as e.g. protecting ecosystems, halting the loss of biological diversity, tracking the impacts of climate change, monitoring urban land take, assessing developments in agriculture or dealing with water resources directives. CLC belongs to the Pan-European component of the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (https://land.copernicus.eu/), part of the European Copernicus Programme coordinated by the European Environment Agency, providing environmental information from a combination of air- and space-based observation systems and in-situ monitoring. Additional information about CLC product description including mapping guides can be found at https://land.copernicus.eu/user-corner/technical-library/. CLC class descriptions can be found at https://land.copernicus.eu/user-corner/technical-library/corine-land-cover-nomenclature-guidelines/html/.

Corine Land Cover 2018 (CLC2018) is one of the Corine Land Cover (CLC) datasets produced within the frame the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service referring to land cover / land use status of year 2018. CLC service has a long-time heritage (formerly known as "CORINE Land Cover Programme"), coordinated by the European Environment Agency (EEA). It provides consistent and thematically detailed information on land cover and land cover changes across Europe. CLC datasets are based on the classification of satellite images produced by the national teams of the participating countries - the EEA members and cooperating countries (EEA39). National CLC inventories are then further integrated into a seamless land cover map of Europe. The resulting European database relies on standard methodology and nomenclature with following base parameters: 44 classes in the hierarchical 3-level CLC nomenclature; minimum mapping unit (MMU) for status layers is 25 hectares; minimum width of linear elements is 100 metres. Change layers have higher resolution, i.e. minimum mapping unit (MMU) is 5 hectares for Land Cover Changes (LCC), and the minimum width of linear elements is 100 metres. The CLC service delivers important data sets supporting the implementation of key priority areas of the Environment Action Programmes of the European Union as e.g. protecting ecosystems, halting the loss of biological diversity, tracking the impacts of climate change, monitoring urban land take, assessing developments in agriculture or dealing with water resources directives. CLC belongs to the Pan-European component of the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (https://land.copernicus.eu/), part of the European Copernicus Programme coordinated by the European Environment Agency, providing environmental information from a combination of air- and space-based observation systems and in-situ monitoring. Additional information about CLC product description including mapping guides can be found at https://land.copernicus.eu/user-corner/technical-library/. CLC class descriptions can be found at https://land.copernicus.eu/user-corner/technical-library/corine-land-cover-nomenclature-guidelines/html/.

Land cover classification image for the Cypress Upland ecoregion of Saskatchewan with a spatial resolution of 10m. The goal of this land cover classification was to distinguish native from tame grasslands. The classification was based on Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 imagery using machine learning analysis in the Google Earth Engine platform. The classification was conducted on imagery acquired in 2023, and the classification model was built with field data collected in 2023. There are seven classes in total: native grassland, tame grassland, cropland, shrubs, trees, water, and urban area. Download: here The Prairie Landscape Inventory (PLI) aims to develop improved methods of assessing land cover and land use for conservation. Native grassland has historically been one of the hardest to map at-risk ecosystems because of the challenges in distinguishing native grassland from tame grassland land cover using remotely sensed imagery. This classification distinguishes native grassland from tame grassland and will provide valuable information for habitat suitability for native grassland species, identifying high biodiversity potential and invasion risk potential.   The classification map has seven (7) classes. The mixed grassland class included in the PLI land cover classification for other prairie ecoregions was not modelled in the Cypress Upland. 1. Cropland This class represents all cultivated areas with crop commodities, including corn, pulse, soybeans, canola, grains, and summer-fallow. 2. Native grassland This class represents the native grassland areas that are composed of at least 75% native grass, sedge and forb species, such as the needle grasses and wheatgrasses along with June grass and blue grama grass. Unbroken grassland that is invaded by species like Kentucky bluegrass, crested wheatgrass or smooth brome, such that native cover is less than 75%, is not considered native for the purpose of this project.  4. Tame grassland This class represents the tame grassland areas that are composed of at least 75% seeded or planted species with introduced grasses and forb species such as crested wheatgrass, smooth brome, Kentucky bluegrass, alfalfa, and sweet clover. 5. Water This class represents permanent water locations such as lakes and rivers. 6. Shrubs This class represents the sites dominated by woody vegetation of relatively low height (generally +/-2 meters) with shrub canopy typically >20% of total vegetation cover. 7. Trees This class represents the coniferous/deciduous trees, mixed-wood area, and other trees >2 meters height with tree canopy typically >20% of total vegetation cover. 9. Urban area This class represents both urban municipalities and buffered roads. Urban municipalities was used to mask the urban/developed area class of the Annual Crop Inventory 2021 (Agriculture Agri-Food Canada). Colour Classes: Value Label Red Green Blue 1 Cropland 255 255 190 2 Native grassland 168 168 0 4 Tame grassland 245 202 122 5 Water 190 232 255 6 Shrubs 205 102 153 7 Trees 66 128 53 9 Urban area 128 128 128 Accuracy metrics This model has an overall accuracy of 92 per cent. The table below summarizes the user’s accuracy, producer’s accuracy, and F1-score of the model on the validation dataset. Class User’s accuracy (%) Producer’s accuracy (%) F1-score Cropland 96 96 0.96 Native grassland 90 93 0.92 Tame grassland 93 71 0.82 Water 100 100 1.00 Shrubs 77 88 0.83 Trees 96 996 0.96

Corine Land Cover Change 2006-2012 (CHA0612) is one of the Corine Land Cover (CLC) datasets produced within the frame the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service referring to changes in land cover / land use status between the years 2006 and 2012. CHA is derived from satellite imagery by direct mapping of changes taken place between two consecutive inventories, based on image-to-image comparison. CLC datasets are based on the classification of satellite images produced by the national teams of the participating countries - the EEA members and cooperating countries (EEA39). National CLC inventories are then further integrated into a seamless land cover map of Europe. The resulting European database relies on standard methodology and nomenclature with following base parameters: 44 classes in the hierarchical 3-level CLC nomenclature; minimum mapping unit (MMU) for status layers is 25 hectares; minimum width of linear elements is 100 metres. Change layers have higher resolution, i.e. minimum mapping unit (MMU) is 5 hectares for Land Cover Changes (CHA), and the minimum width of linear elements is 100 metres. The CLC service delivers important data sets supporting the implementation of key priority areas of the Environment Action Programmes of the European Union as e.g. protecting ecosystems, halting the loss of biological diversity, tracking the impacts of climate change, monitoring urban land take, assessing developments in agriculture or dealing with water resources directives. CLC belongs to the Pan-European component of the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (https://land.copernicus.eu/), part of the European Copernicus Programme coordinated by the European Environment Agency, providing environmental information from a combination of air- and space-based observation systems and in-situ monitoring. Additional information about CLC product description including mapping guides can be found at https://land.copernicus.eu/user-corner/technical-library/. CLC class descriptions can be found at https://land.copernicus.eu/user-corner/technical-library/corine-land-cover-nomenclature-guidelines/html/.

Corine Land Cover 2006 (CLC2006) is one of the Corine Land Cover (CLC) datasets produced within the frame the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service referring to land cover / land use status of year 2006. CLC service has a long-time heritage (formerly known as "CORINE Land Cover Programme"), coordinated by the European Environment Agency (EEA). It provides consistent and thematically detailed information on land cover and land cover changes across Europe. CLC datasets are based on the classification of satellite images produced by the national teams of the participating countries - the EEA members and cooperating countries (EEA39). National CLC inventories are then further integrated into a seamless land cover map of Europe. The resulting European database relies on standard methodology and nomenclature with following base parameters: 44 classes in the hierarchical 3-level CLC nomenclature; minimum mapping unit (MMU) for status layers is 25 hectares; minimum width of linear elements is 100 metres. Change layers have higher resolution, i.e. minimum mapping unit (MMU) is 5 hectares for Land Cover Changes (LCC), and the minimum width of linear elements is 100 metres. The CLC service delivers important data sets supporting the implementation of key priority areas of the Environment Action Programmes of the European Union as e.g. protecting ecosystems, halting the loss of biological diversity, tracking the impacts of climate change, monitoring urban land take, assessing developments in agriculture or dealing with water resources directives. CLC belongs to the Pan-European component of the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (https://land.copernicus.eu/), part of the European Copernicus Programme coordinated by the European Environment Agency, providing environmental information from a combination of air- and space-based observation systems and in-situ monitoring. Additional information about CLC product description including mapping guides can be found at https://land.copernicus.eu/user-corner/technical-library/. CLC class descriptions can be found at https://land.copernicus.eu/user-corner/technical-library/corine-land-cover-nomenclature-guidelines/html/.

Land cover classification image for the Aspen Parkland ecoregion of Saskatchewan with a spatial resolution of 10m. The goal of this land cover classification was to distinguish native from tame grasslands. The classification was based on Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 imagery using machine learning analysis in the Google Earth Engine platform. The classification was conducted on imagery acquired in 2022, and the classification model was built with field data collected in 2020 - 2022. There are eight classes in total: native grassland, tame grassland, mixed/altered grassland, cropland, shrubs, trees, water, and urban area. Download: here The Prairie Landscape Inventory (PLI) aims to develop improved methods of assessing land cover and land use for conservation. Native grassland has historically been one of the hardest to map at-risk ecosystems because of the challenges in distinguishing native grassland from tame grassland land cover using remotely sensed imagery. This classification distinguishes native grassland from tame grassland and will provide valuable information for habitat suitability for native grassland species, identifying high biodiversity potential and invasion risk potential. The classification map has eight (8) classes:  1. Cropland This class represents all cultivated areas with crop commodities, including corn, pulse, soybeans, canola, grains, and summer-fallow. 2. Native grassland This class represents the native grassland areas that are composed of at least 75% native grass, sedge and forb species, such as the needle grasses and wheatgrasses along with June grass and blue grama grass. Unbroken grassland that is invaded by species like Kentucky bluegrass, crested wheatgrass or smooth brome, such that native cover is less than 75%, is not considered native for the purpose of this project.  3. Mixed/altered grassland This class represents a grassland with a mix of less than 75% native grass, sedge and forb species or less than 75% tame species. These are grassland areas that do not fit into either of the native or tame grassland definitions.  4. Tame grassland This class represents the tame grassland areas that are composed of at least 75% seeded or planted species with introduced grasses and forb species such as crested wheatgrass, smooth brome, Kentucky bluegrass, alfalfa, and sweet clover. 5. Water This class represents permanent water locations such as lakes and rivers. 6. Shrubs This class represents the sites dominated by woody vegetation of relatively low height (generally +/-2 meters) with shrub canopy typically >20% of total vegetation cover. 7. Trees This class represents the coniferous/deciduous trees, mixed-wood area, and other trees >2 meters height with tree canopy typically >20% of total vegetation cover. 9. Urban area This class represents both urban municipalities and buffered roads. Urban municipalities was used to mask the urban/developed area class of the Annual Crop Inventory 2021 (Agriculture Agri-Food Canada).   Colour Classes: Value Label Red Green Blue 1 Cropland 255 255 190 2 Native grassland 168 168 0 3 Mixed/altered grassland 199 215 158 4 Tame grassland 245 202 122 5 Water 190 232 255 6 Shrubs 205 102 153 7 Trees 66 128 53 9 Urban area 128 128 128 Accuracy metrics This model has an overall accuracy of 73 per cent. The table below summarizes the user’s accuracy, producer’s accuracy, and F1-score of the model on the validation dataset. Class User’s accuracy (%) Producer’s accuracy (%) F1-score Cropland 91.2 94.5 0.93 Native grassland 74.8 73.1 0.74 Mixed grassland 44.7 44.1 0.44 Tame grassland 67.9 72.8 0.70 Water 94.8 91.3 0.93 Shrubs 61.2 51.1 0.56 Trees 89.7 94.6 0.92