Next generation land cover monitoring services: Towards a flexible, user-oriented approach

Many land cover changes are a direct threat to nature, especially through its negative effects on ecosystem services and thus, poses a risk to long-term human health and wellbeing. Land cover data is requested by different users, i.e. it is key for many SDG indicators and therefore accurate and continuously updated land cover information is more essential than ever. However, the “let's produce a map and someone will use it” approach is not helpful as users' have their own requirements and needs in terms of detail, quality and repeatability. Hence, developments for mapping approaches and data sharing (satellite imagery as well as reference data) should focus on distributed, flexible, user-oriented approaches. Data providers and especially data distributors should put the users in charge in terms of data and processing access, geographic scope and customization of map products (thematic classes) and next generation land cover services have to offer a much more flexible and targeted land cover characterization framework than in the past.