Production of a land cover time series through data integration for the calculation of UN (UNCCD) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators
Production of a land cover time series through data integration for the calculation of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators for national reporting.
Problem description
As a Party to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Hungary is required to calculate and report indicators associated with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The calculation of the indicator for Goal 15, relating to the protection of terrestrial ecosystems (SDG 15.3.1), requires annually available land cover data for the period 2000-2025, which were not available. To create these data, the Ministry of Agriculture commissioned the work in 2020 and 2025 for the preparation of the UNCCD national report.
Solution workflow
To produce the required data series, our experts collected and assessed available national and Copernicus datasets. The datasets deemed suitable for the purpose were harmonised and integrated, and map layers converted to the UNCCD classification system were produced (2020). In 2025, taking newly available datasets into account, recommendations were made regarding the datasets to be used.
Output
2020:
- Review of source datasets available for Hungary and preparation of recommendations.
- Production of a UNCCD land cover time series (100 m raster) based on harmonised (accounting) CLC data for the years 1990, 2000, 2006, 2012 and 2018.
- Production of a UNCCD land cover time series (100 m raster) based on available NHRL data at annual intervals for the period 2016-2019.
- Production of a UNCCD land cover status layer for 2012 based on NHRL data.
- Calculation of land cover change matrices and land degradation indicators consistent with UNCCD categories from both time series (based on CLC and NHRL).
- Preparation of a report in English.
2025:
- Review of newly available source datasets and assessment of their suitability.
- Preparation of conversion tables and sample maps.
