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Copernicus Land Monitoring Service - High Resolution Layers - Imperviousness

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Prod-ID: DAT-14-en
Created 22 Nov 2017 Published 15 May 2018 Last modified 24 Jun 2022
3 min read
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The imperviousness products capture the percentage and change of soil sealing. Sealed/Impervious areas are characterized by the substitution of the original (semi-) natural land cover or water surface with an artificial, often impervious cover. These artificial surfaces are usually maintained over long periods of time. The imperviousness HRL captures the spatial distribution of artificially sealed areas, including the level of sealing of the soil per area unit. The level of sealed soil (imperviousness degree 1-100%) is produced using a semi-automated classification, based on calibrated NDVI. Imperviousness data is available for the reference years 2006, 2009, 2012, 2015, and 2018, and contains two types of products: 1. Status layers Imperviousness Density (IMD) The percentage of sealed area is mapped for each status layer for any of the 5 reference years (e.g. degree of Imperviousness 2012). The status layers are available in 10m spatial resolution (2018), 20m spatial resolution (2006-2015), and as aggregated 100m products. Impervious Built-up (IBU) This product shows built-up areas, the part of the sealed surfaces where buildings can be found. Built-up areas are a sub-group of the sealed areas. It refers to areas where above-ground building constructions can be found. In contrast to the Imperviousness characterized by a continuous range of imperviousness measurements, built-up in the HRL 2018 is a binary product, expressed as built-up or non-built-up areas. This product is new for the 2018 mapping campaign and is available in 10 meter resolution, as well as a 100 meter aggregated version called Share of Built-up (SBU) 2. Change layers Two types of change products are available for each of the 3-year periods between the 5 reference years (2006-2009, 2009-2012, 2012-2015, 2015-2018), and in addition, for the period 2006-2012 (that is in line with the 6-year period between two Corine Land Cover products): a) A simple layer mapping the percentage of sealing increase or decrease for those pixels that show real sealing change in the period covered. This product is available in 20m and 100m pixel size. b) A classified change product that maps the most relevant categories of sealing change (unchanged no sealing, new cover, loss of cover, unchanged sealed, increased sealing, decreased sealing). This product is available in 20m pixel size only.

GIS data

Imperviousness status products
  • Imperviousness 2018
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  • Impervious built-up 2018
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  • Imperviousness 2015
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  • Imperviousness 2012
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  • Imperviousness 2009
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  • Imperviousness 2006
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Imperviousness change products
  • Imperviousness degree change 2015-2018
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  • Imperviousness classified change 2015-2018
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  • Imperviousness degree change 2012-2015
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  • Imperviousness classified change 2012-2015
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  • Imperviousness degree change 2009-2012
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  • Imperviousness classified change 2009-2012
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  • Imperviousness degree change 2006-2009
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  • Imperviousness classified change 2006-2009
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  • Imperviousness degree change 2006-2012 (CLC Synchronous)
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  • Imperviousness classified change 2006-2012 (CLC Synchronous)
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Metadata

information.png Reporting obligations (ROD)
  • Not applicable
information.png Related websites
Relation:
Derived data set:  Landscape fragmentation Effective Mesh Density time-series: major and medium anthropogenic fragmenting elements (FGA2-S)
Derived data set:  Ecosystem types of Europe
Derived data set:  Environmental Accounting Reference Layers - SDI
information.png Geographic accuracy:
100m, 20m, 10m
information.png Rights:
Access to data is based on a principle of full, open and free access as established by the Copernicus data and information policy Regulation (EU) No 1159/2013 of 12 July 2013. This regulation establishes registration and licensing conditions for GMES/Copernicus users. Free, full and open access to this data set is made on the conditions that:

1.When distributing or communicating Copernicus dedicated data and Copernicus service information to the public, users shall inform the public of the source of that data and information.

2.Users shall make sure not to convey the impression to the public that the user's activities are officially endorsed by the Union.

3.Where that data or information has been adapted or modified, the user shall clearly state this.

4.The data remain the sole property of the European Union. Any information and data produced in the framework of the action shall be the sole property of the European Union. Any communication and publication by the beneficiary shall acknowledge that the data were produced “with funding by the European Union”.
information.png Coordinate reference system:
EPSG:3035
information.png Data sources

Data delivered by the external service provider.

information.png Owners:
European Union
information.png Processors:
European Environment Agency (EEA)

Additional information

 

 

 

Related content

Derived dataset

Data
Archived
Environmental Accounting Reference Layers - SDI This is a collection of the geospatial Environmental Accounting Reference Layers of the Integrated Data Platform published on the website and registered in EEA`s Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI). The link under "GIS data" points to the SDI thematic node on Environmental Accounting Reference Layers.
Data Landscape fragmentation Effective Mesh Density time-series: major and medium anthropogenic fragmenting elements (FGA2-S) The datasets below correspond to a new version of the Effective Mesh Density (seff) 2016 dataset with improved input data, for the years 2009, 2012 and 2015. This time-series uses the Copernicus Imperviousness and the TomTom TeleAtlas datasets as fragmenting geometries. The Effective Mesh Density (seff) is a measure of the degree to which movement between different parts of the landscape is interrupted by a Fragmentation Geometry (FG). FGs are defined as the presence of impervious surfaces and traffic infrastructure, including medium sized roads. The more FGs fragment the landscape, the higher the effective mesh density hence the higher the fragmentation. An important consequence of landscape fragmentation is the increased isolation of ecosystem patches that breaks the structural connections and decreases resilience and ability of habitats to provide various ecosystem services. Fragmentation also influences human communities, agriculture, recreation and overall quality of life. Monitoring how fragmentation decreases landscape quality and changes the visual perception of landscapes provides information for policy measures that aim at improving ecosystem condition and restoration as well as maintaining the attractiveness of landscapes for recreational activities. The geographic coverage of the datasets is EEA39.
Data Ecosystem types of Europe The dataset combines the Copernicus land service portfolio and marine bathymetry and seabed information with the non-spatial EUNIS habitat classification for a better biological characterization of ecosystems across Europe. As such it represents probabilities of EUNIS habitat presence for each MAES ecosystem type.

Interactive charts

Data Visualization Imperviousness in MAES ecosystems — floodplains, coastal zones and protected areas — 2018
Dashboard (Tableau) Landscape fragmentation in Europe Landscape fragmentation is the physical disintegration of continuous ecosystems into smaller units, which is most often caused by urban or transport network expansion. Breaking structural connections between habitats results in decreased resilience of habitats and a decrease in their ability to provide various ecosystem services and support biodiversity. This dashboard enables the exploration of landscape fragmentation in 2018 in Europe.
Data Visualization Imperviousness in MAES ecosystems by country, 2018
Dashboard (Tableau) Soil sealing and ecosystem impacts This interactive data viewer provides accounts of imperviousness, i.e. land surface sealing status in Europe (EEA39 and EU27+UK) for the year 2018. Sealing is measured by the high resolution (10m) dataset "Imperviousness "of the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service. The viewer facilitates the understanding and assessment of soil sealing, which can be queried by administrative region or the degree of urbanisation as well as by ecological units such as floodplains and coastal zones or protected areas. All disaggregated assessment level allows the query of countries and land cover classes as well.
Data Visualization Landscape fragmentation status and trends, 2009-2015: country comparison
Data Visualization Landscape fragmentation status and trends, 2009-2015: affected lands
Dashboard (Tableau) Imperviousness in Europe This interactive data viewer provides accounts of land surface sealing status and change in Europe (EEA39 and EU28) for every 3 years between 2006 and 2015, measured by the high resolution Copernicus imperviousness datasets. The viewer facilitates the assessment of soil sealing over a specific period, which can be analyzed within user defined spatial units such as administrative regions, biogeographical regions or land cover classes.

Interactive maps produced

Produced Indicators

Produced figures

Figure Average annual change in soil sealing, 2006-2015 The map shows the percentage of the average annual change in soil sealing for each of the rectangular 10 km x 10 km grid cells, over the 2006-2015 period
Figure Imperviousness density in 2015 The map shows the density of soil sealing in 2012, based on a 10 km2 reference grid. Green and light orange colors show areas with no or very limited sealing, while red and dark red colors show highly to fully sealed grid cells (mainly urban areas).
Figure Fragmentation increase in Europe during 2009-2015 The map shows the difference of the years 2015 and 2009 and presents the increase in fragmentation in that period. The original 100m values were resampled to a 5 km grid for visualisation purposes.
Figure Imperviousness density in 2012 The map shows the density of soil sealing in 2012, based on a 10 km2 reference grid. Green and light orange colors show areas with no or very limited sealing, while red and dark red colors show highly to fully sealed grid cells (mainly urban areas).
Figure Average annual change in soil sealing, 2009-2012 The map shows the percentage of the average annual change in soil sealing for each of the rectangular 10 km x 10 km grid cells, over the 2009-2012 period
Figure
Draft
Density of impervious cover across Europe in 2015 (left) and average annual change in soil sealing between 2006-2015 (right) The map shows the density of soil sealing in 2012, based on a 10 km² reference grid. Green and light orange colors show areas with no or very limited sealing, while red and dark red colors show highly to fully sealed grid cells (mainly urban areas).

Used in indicators

Indicator Specification Imperviousness and imperviousness change in Europe The imperviousness indicator is defined as the yearly average imperviousness change between two reference years, as measured by imperviousness change products. The change is aggregated for a certain reference unit and expressed relative to the size of that unit (as a percentage). The imperviousness change value for a 100 m raster cell is based on 100 m imperviousness change products. The default reference unit is the country, but the indicator can be aggregated based on different spatial units. For example, for a certain country, a n imperviousness indicator value of 0.2 %, means that on average, an additional 0.2 % of this country's area has been sealed annually during the period between the two reference years in question. If above a certain rate of increase (threshold values) , this value can be used as a warning sign. The aggregation of imperviousness values to reference units is performed using the integrated spatial data platform at EEA.
Indicator Specification Landscape fragmentation pressure and trends in Europe This indicator measures landscape fragmentation due to transport infrastructure and sealed areas. Unlike the previous indicator on fragmentation status, this updated version uses the TeleAtlas® Multinet data set to ensure the statistical comparability of the time series. While the Open Street Map data set is a valuable source of the street network available for the general public, there are still inconsistencies in this data set for some regions of Europe, which render it secondary to the TeleAtlas data set. As in the previous version, this indicator is based on the effective mesh size method  (Jaeger, 2000) . For some species, the effective mesh size (meff) can be interpreted as the area that is accessible when beginning to move from a randomly chosen point inside a landscape without encountering anthropogenic barriers such as transport routes or built-up areas. However, it should be stressed that for many species that can fly, or are effective dispersers in others ways, man-made structures may not act as barriers.  The combination of all barriers in a landscape is referred to as the fragmentation geometry (FG) hereafter. The meff value expresses the probability that any two points chosen randomly in an area are connected. Hence, meff is a measure of landscape connectivity, i.e. the degree to which movements between different parts of the landscape are possible. The larger the meff, the more connected the landscape. The indicator addresses the structural connectivity of the landscape and does not tackle functional, species-specific connectivity. The effective mesh density (seff) is a measure of landscape fragmentation, i.e. the degree to which movement between different parts of the landscape is interrupted by fragmentation geometry. It gives the effective number of meshes (or landscape patches) per 1 000 km 2 , in other words the density of the meshes. The seff value is 1 000 km 2 /meff, hence the number of meshes per 1 000 km 2 . The more barriers fragmenting the landscape, the higher the effective mesh density. The values of meff and seff are reported within the cells of a 1 km 2 regular grid. The value of meff is area-proportionally additive, hence it characterises the fragmentation of any region considered, independently of its size, and thus can be calculated for a combination of two or more regions. It has several advantages over other metrics: It addresses the entire landscape matrix instead of addressing individual patches. It is independent of the size of the reporting unit and its values can be compared among reporting units of differing sizes. It is suitable for comparing the fragmentation of regions with differing total areas and with differing proportions occupied by housing, industry and transportation structures. Its reliability has been confirmed on the basis of suitability criteria through a systematic comparison with other quantitative measures. The suitability of other metrics is limited, as they only partially meet the following criteria: intuitive interpretation; mathematical simplicity; modest data requirements; low sensitivity to small patches; detection of structural differences; mathematical homogeneity (i.e. intensive or extensive).
Indicator Specification Landscape fragmentation pressure from urban and transport infrastructure expansion This indicator is based on the Effective Mesh Size (Jaeger 2000) method .  For some species, the effective mesh size (meff) can be interpreted as the area that is accessible when beginning to move from a randomly chosen point inside a landscape without encountering man-made barriers such as transport routes or built-up areas. However, it should be stressed that for many species that can fly, or are effective dispersers in others ways, man-made structures may not act as barriers. The combination of all barriers in a landscape is called Fragmentation Geometry (FG) hereafter. The meff value expresses the probability that any two points chosen randomly in an area are connected. Hence, meff is a measure of landscape connectivity, i.e. the degree to which movements between different parts of the landscape are possible. The larger the meff, the more connected the landscape. The indicator addresses structural connectivity of the landscape and does not tackle functional, species specific connectivity. The Effective Mesh Density (seff) is a measure of landscape fragmentation, i.e. the degree to which movement between different parts of the landscape is interrupted by Fragmentation Geometry. It gives the effective number of meshes (or landscape patches) per 1 000 km 2 , in other words, the density of the meshes. The seff value is calculated as 1 000 km 2 /meff, hence, the number of meshes per 1 000 km 2 . The more barriers fragmenting the landscape, the higher the effective mesh density. meff and seff are reported within the cells of a 1 km 2 regular grid. meff is area-proportionally additive, hence it characterises the fragmentation of any region considered, independently of its size, and thus can be calculated for a combination of two or more regions. The meff has several advantages over other metrics: It addresses the entire landscape matrix instead of addressing individual patches. It is independent of the size of the reporting unit and its values can be compared among reporting units of differing sizes. It is suitable for comparing the fragmentation of regions with differing total areas and with differing proportions occupied by housing, industry and transportation structures. It's reliability has been confirmed on the basis of suitability criteria through a systematic comparison with other quantitative measures. The suitability of other metrics was limited as they only partially met the following criteria: Intuitive interpretation; Mathematical simplicity; Modest data requirements; Low sensitivity to small patches; Detection of structural differences; Mathematical homogeneity (i.e., intensive or extensive).
Indicator Specification
Archived
Imperviousness and imperviousness change The imperviousness indicator is defined as the yearly average imperviousness change between two reference years, as measured by imperviousness change products. The change is aggregated for a certain reference unit and expressed as relative to the size of that unit (as a percentage). The imperviousness change value for a 100 m raster cell is based on 100 m imperviousness change products. The default reference unit is the country, but the indicator can be aggregated based on different spatial units. For example, for a certain country, a n imperviousness indicator value of 0.2 %, means that on average, an additional 0.2 % of this country's area has been sealed annually during the period between the two reference years in question. If above a certain rate of increase (threshold values) , this value can be used as a warning sign. The aggregation of imperviousness values to reference units is performed using the LEAC CUBE method.
Indicator Specification
Draft
Imperviousness and imperviousness change in Europe This indicator measures the covering of the soil surface with non-permeable materials, hence indicating imperviousness. The aggregation of imperviousness values to reference units, such as urban areas, floodplains, coastal zones or protected areas is performed using the integrated spatial data platform of the EEA.

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For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/copernicus-land-monitoring-service-imperviousness-2 or scan the QR code.

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