Global Forest Watch (GFW)
Global Forest Watch (GFW) contains the following forest-related datasets: (1) forest change data (changes within forests at different resolutions, frequencies, and geographic extents, including tree cover loss and gain data, near real-time forest alerts, and active fire data); (2) forest cover data ( types of forest cover at different resolutions and geographic extents, including forest types such as mangroves, intact forest landscapes, primary forests, and carbon stocks); (3) forest use data; (4) forest conservation data, including areas that are important to biodiversity and natural resources; (5) data on areas over which indigenous peoples or local communities have rights over land and/or certain resources, including indigenous reserves.
The Tree Cover Loss dataset, measures areas of tree cover (all vegetation exceeding 5 m in height) loss between 2000 and 2014 across all global land (except Antarctica and other Arctic islands) at approximately 30 × 30 meter resolution, using multispectral satellite imagery from the Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM), the Landsat 7 Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), and the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) sensors. The counterpart dataset is the Tree Cover Gain product with the same resolution.
The Active Fire dataset is another global dataset derived from MODIS since 2000 with 1 km spatial resolution (MCD14DL). Since January 2016 this dataset has been complemented with data from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) with 375 m resolution for the last 24, 48 hours and 7 days. Data older than 7 days can be obtained from the Archive Download Tool.
The Terra-i dataset detects land-cover changes resulting from human activities in near real-time, producing updates every 16 days with 250 m resolution. Currently it works for the whole of Latin America and the tropics.
Another product derived and enhanced from MODIS but geographically confined to the Brazilian Amazon Basin is the Deforestation Alert System (Sistema de Alerta de Desmatamento—SAD) , a monthly alert that monitors forest cover loss and forest degradation in the Brazilian Amazon with 250 m resolution. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is also monitored since 1988 by the PRODES project, which generates its data from a variety of satellite platforms.
Also in Latin America deforestation of tropical dry forests of the Gran Chaco region in Paraguay, Argentina, and Bolivia is being monitored since 2011 by the NGO Guyra Paraguay using 30-m resolution Landsat imagery.
In addition to these global, continental and regional products, GFW also contains country statistics on tree cover loss and gain, a land cover map for South East Asia, and a number of special-topic maps related to forest use, nature conservation, and land/resource rights of indigenous peoples.